Brigham Young University Brigham Young University

BYU ScholarsArchive BYU ScholarsArchive

Theses and Dissertations

1993

Section 76 as Literature in the Doctrine and Covenants Section 76 as Literature in the Doctrine and Covenants

William H. Brugger Brigham Young University - Provo

Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd

Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons

BYU ScholarsArchive Citation BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Brugger, William H., "Section 76 as Literature in the Doctrine and Covenants" (1993). Theses and Dissertations. 4565. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4565

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact scholarsarchive@byu.edu, ellen_amatangelo@byu.edu.

section 76 as literature in the doctrine and covenants

A thesispresented to the

department of english

brigham young university

in partial fulfillmentof the requirements for the degree

master of arts

by

william H brugger

december 1993

OL

t 79537993

decbec

this thesis by william H brugger is accepted in itspresent form by the department of english of brigham young

university as satisfying the thesis requirement for the

degree of master of arts

idec mjdate

fe aelarpycarpy eahl committee member

C jay fox aduateadu coordinatorateata

11

ste e awerwwer committee chair

lar E ahlahi

i-cgrad at6acuate

acknowledgments

many people have assisted me in this project first andforemost I1 have to thank my wife christine for believing inme when I1 did not believe in myself for encouraging me whenI1 did not want to be encouraged and for loving me when I1 didnot deserve to be loved mallory my daughter lifted myspirits often throughout the duration of this project andcontinues to do so after its completion she is my singlegreatest contribution to humanity my parents in lawrichard and joyce heaps both academiciansacademic providedians agenerous amount of advice counsel and support I1 love themas though they were my own my brother don who was writinghis thesis at the same time offered a sympathetic ear andmade me feel better by telling me I1 was further along in mywriting and research than he was

from brigham young university I1 thank steven walkerwho maintained a level of excitement about this project whichoften exceeded my own and from whom I1 received not only theoriginal idea but direction and vision to see this projectto its completion may he now catch up on his sleep eugeneengland a friend and mentor whom I1 admire tremendously wasparticularly helpful in educating me about poetry as well asmy own religion to larry dahl I1 am indebted for giving memuch needed research and writing experience and for teachingme most of what I1 know about the doctrine and covenants tolarry porter for offering numerous source materials and forteaching me all I1 know about church history thanks goes tojay fox for keeping me on the MA track to joyce baggerlyfor keeping the track clear of obstacles and for insuring mysafe arrival and to gloria cronin who put me on the track inthe first place thanks also to jeff knight at microsoft forretrieving my third chapter and to that kindly HBLLcustodian whoever you are for letting me dig through thenumerous trash bins in search of lost notes and photocopiessomething needs to be done about the food violations

finally I1 thank my heavenly father who held out hishands even when I1 sometimes placed mine out of reach and whopicked me up and carried me when I1 dragged my feet I1 hopethis project if only in some small or indirect way bringssomeone closer to him who is the author of authors and poetof poets

111ililii

table of contents

chapter 1 the doctrine and covenants as literature 1

the bible as literature 1

the book of mormon as literature 2

literary studies of the doctrine and covenants 3

the doctrine and covenants as literature 8

narrative 9

short story 13

saga 18

biography 20

parable 21

proverbs 24

apocalypse 26

tragedy 28

poetry 31

theme 4 2

an undervalued text 43

chapter 2 section 76 as poetry 46

overview 46

the vision 46

literary quality of section 76 48

biblical parallels 51

structure of section 76 56

chiasmus 63

parallelism 70

synonymous parallelism 74

antithetic and synthetic parallelism 76

climactic parallelism 78

word motifs 81

figures of speech 82

dac adaptations of figures of speech 86

understatement and overstatement 91

iv

42

chapter 3 the poetic version of section 76 95

overview 95

vade mecum 95

the other poem 101

comparison of A vision and section 76 103

evaluation of A vision 136

parallels between the two texts 138

differences between A vision and section 76 141

conclusion 145

works cited 147

v

chapter 1

THE DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS AS literature

the bible as literature

it is not surprising that the bible has been cherishedfor its literary value for centuries combed over carefullyfor its literary insights the bible is an anthology ofliterary genres there is poetry in the books of psalms song

of solomon and lamentations wisdom literature in job

proverbs and ecclesiastes apocalyptic literature in

ezekiel zechariah and revelation narrative as carefullywrought and psychologically engaging as modern short story in

ruth esther and jonah not only is the bible literatureit is clearly great literature heroic narrative in the

stories of deborah and daniel and gideon rich saga in the

histories of abraham joseph and moses profound tragedy in

the narratives of david saul and samson

and the bible is as literarilylitera finerily in its details as in

its larger forms anyone who has read them knows how

powerful jesuss parables are how they change like modern

laser holographsholographyholo asgraphs readers alter perspectives or shiftstances in the parable of the prodigal son for example

the same readers from different perspectives in their livesdepending on age disposition circumstance can relate to

the profligate prodigal to the compassionate parent or to

the accountant mentality of that elder son such biblicalpassages are universally recognized as classic pieces of

literature captivating audiences regardless of age race or

gender

that widespread literary recognition has made biblicalliterary studies well established and recently expansive

the 1981 publication of robert alters the art of biblicalnarrative triggered a renaissance of literary study of the

bible in such recent distinguished critical assessments as

northrop fryes the great code the bible and literaturemeir sternbergs the poetics of biblical narrative harold

blooms audacious the book of J and a landslide of other

literary studies of the bible by such scholars as frankkermode adele berlin phyllis tribble geoffrey hartman and

robert polzin

the book of mormon as literature

another volume of ancient scripture the book of mormon

has also undergone recent extensive research including

studies into its value as literature despite the bookscomparatively short existence an increasing amount of

material has emerged treating various literary aspects of the

book of mormon through such supportive channels as the

foundation for ancient research and mormon studies recent

literary studies have examined the book of mormon for hebrew

idiom similarities to biblical patterning such as chiasmic

2

and other structural forms word usageusaqe ana aisiriduialstrioutphrase repetition the use of code language and the use of

such stylistic and rhetorical devices as figures of speech

and imagery issues concerning translation and authorshiphave also been discussed to a considerable degree

such studies of the book of mormon tend to demonstrate

that the book of mormon is as rich in literary content as the

bible readers enjoy it for the same reasons the bible isenjoyed it is accessible personally adaptable and

illuminating if church membership projections are accurate

it may be that the literature of the book of mormon whose

circulation increases exponentially every year is destined

to have as great an impact in shaping thought in the futureas the bible has had in the past

literary studies of the doctrine and covenants

despite the widespread acceptance of scripture as

literature however and the strides being made in its study

literary studies of the doctrine and covenants have been

limited taking a distant back seat to historical and

doctrinal analyses despite a published history virtually as

old as that of the book of mormon only a handful of scholars

have taken interest in literary approaches to the doctrine

and covenants A scant handful of sections have been

examined by any kind of systematic literary analysis

studies that treat the doctrine and covenants as literature

number less than a dozen and most of these treat the topicsuperficially and briefly

the earliest exploration of the doctrine and covenantsas literature is found in T edgar lyons 1948 introductionto the doctrine and covenants and the pearl of great price

the books fourteenth chapter appreciative interpretationsof selected passages from modern revelation presentsportions of the revelations that are valuable not only forthe beauty of the doctrines in them but for their beauty of

expression lyon classifies many passages as inspirationalreadings scriptures that are extraordinarily successful in

providing emotional relief in lifting the spirit in

offering insight and perspective and in promoting a sense of

self worth in the concluding pages of the chapter devoted

to poetic utterances lyon provides examples of psalms and

anthems from the doctrine and covenants

ellis rasmussensRasmus 1951sens masters thesis textualparallels to the doctrine and covenants and book of

commandments as found in the bible explores the textualrelationship between the two volumes of scriptureidentifying phrases and clauses that are similar in

construction and meaning rasmussensRasmus analysissens includes

statistical research into the number of textual parallelsthat exist between the doctrine and covenants and the bible

the frequency with which they appear per revelation and

verse how closely the parallels compare to each other the

various types of parallels that exist where the texts

4

super iciallyscially

parallel each other most often and what purposes such

parallels might serve rasmussen originally had intended toexamine all the revelations in the doctrine and covenants

but stopped at section 64 twenty years later in 1971

another graduate student lois jean smutz continued thestudy by examining sections 65 to 133 using rasmussensRasmus

research

sensmethods these early efforts have proven helpful in

studying the doctrine and covenants as literature patterns

of repetition sometimes reveal similarities to hebrew

parallelism an important characteristic of hebrew poetry

that is discussed in more detail in the next chapter neitherrasmussen nor smutz however directly relate their findings

to literary studies of the doctrine and covenants

in 1969 two significant works were published which

examined the doctrine and covenants as literature john A

widtsoesWidt volumesoes the message of the doctrine and covenants

includes as its seventeenth chapter the book as literaturebut of the chapters eleven pages commentary is provided on

only four the remaining pages list examples of concise

sayings other forms of prose and poetry

steven C walkers 1969 article the voice of theprophet in brigham young university studies represents the

only in depth literary analysis of the doctrine and covenants

to date he explains that revelation is given in differentways and forms and that experiences so unique and personal

will show marked variations in emotional intensity and

language when they are recorded to prove his point he

5

f

explicates section 121 comparing and contrasting the two

distinct literary styles which comprise it walkersubsequently shows how section 128 as a dictated letter to

scribe william clayton employs a literary style quitedifferent from that of section 121 other sections in the

doctrine and covenants he suggests display a vast array of

stylistic variations that reveal considerable insight intothe nature of revelation the literary abilities of joseph

smith and the beauty of scriptural language

richard C shipps 1975 thesis conceptual patterns of

repetition in the doctrine and covenants and theirimplications is an exhaustive work identifying chiasmic

structures in certain sections of the doctrine and covenants

shipp relying on similar studies performed on the old and

new testaments finds that two forms emerge a directrepetitive structure and a reverse structure he argues thatthese patterns constitute an inherent system of commentary

that promotes scriptural understanding through repetitionbut shipp like rasmussen and smutz does not explore the

impact his findings have on literary study of the doctrineand covenants

roger K petersenspetersonsPeter dissertationsens joseph smith prophet

poet A literary analysis of writings commonly associatedwith his name was completed in 1981 petersen demonstrates

that the prophet joseph smith was literary minded that his

writings in addition to being prophetic and inspirationalare also structural and lyrical DAI 4450 A chapter nine

6

of his dissertation the doctrine and covenants thecovenant restored through the music of the king james biblesong lyric and jeremiad illustrates using section 88

how the language of the king james bible became the parentlanguage of the doctrine and covenants petersen shows how

sacvansacaan bercovitchs definition of the american jeremiad

applies to the development of the new and everlastingcovenant and how the prophets writings concerning the new

zion establish him as a poet prophet

the most recent commentary on the literary value of

doctrine and covenants is steven walkers article doctrineand covenants as literature in the encyclopedia of

mormonism published in 1992 although necessarily briefwalker compares the literary quality of the doctrine and

covenants to that of the bible like earlier scripture the

doctrine and covenants offers a rainbow of literary genres

1 427 he praises its straightforwardness its frequent

reliance on metaphor and its benefit of immediacy 1

427 that an article such as this is included in theencyclopedia of mormonism is encouraging for at least two

reasons first it helps to substantiate the legitimacy of

literary studies of the doctrine and covenants second the

anticipated placement of the encyclopedia of mormonism in

libraries throughout the english speaking world will increase

awareness of this area of study

7

the doctrine and covenants as literature

to date however there are no extensive studies thatexclusively treat the doctrine and covenants as literatureonly chapters of books and articles there seems to be some

hesitation if not lack of interest in this area lyon

thinks a careful reading and study of the forms and theteachings of our more recent scriptural acquisitions should

reveal much value as literature but he laments we have

been slow to sense this fact 181

this neglect may be understandable there seems to

exist among its readers a limited perception as to thepurpose and design of the doctrine and covenants

traditionally it has not been considered particularlyliterary in either content or form the doctrine and

covenants has been understood to be has been explicitlydefined as a compilation of instructions for church

establishment and governance whose purpose is to ensure

order in the church as an institution and to encourage

obedience among church membership that definition issuggested on the very title page of the book the doctrineand covenants is a collection of divine revelations and

inspired declarations given for the establishment and

regulation of the kingdom of god on the earth in the lastdays there is of course nothing wrong with thisdefinition the doctrine and covenants is without question

8

is

a collection of divine revelations designed to regulate the

church

but the doctrine and covenants is much more than thiswithin the doctrine and covenants are revelations and within

the revelations is literature like other scriptural works

the doctrine and covenants includes numerous sections or

parts of sections that qualify as literature the doctrineand covenants includes a wide array of both traditional and

modern literary genres to establish a foundation for thisproject and to place it in perspective it may be helpful to

introduce the rich literary content of the doctrine and

covenants by providing examples of the various literarygenres represented in it from poetry wisdom literature and

most obviously narrative

narrative

narrative is story an account either actual or

fictional of an event or series of events the doctrine and

covenants in its entirety is narrative and straightforward

narrative readily recognized as such with the exception of

sections 1 10 11 99 133 134 137 and officialdeclaration 1 the doctrine and covenants follows a strictchronological order the beginning sections correspond

chronologically to the history of the early church the loss

of the 116 pages of manuscript by martin harris section 3

oliver cowderys desire to translate the book of mormon 8

9

the lords counsel to oliver concerning the translation 9

the ordaining of joseph smith and oliver cowdery to theaaronic priesthood 13 and the revelation to the threewitnesses 17 are all in order of their occurrence in earlychurch history later sections follow church history with

that same chronological exactness as can be seen in such

typical sections as the revelation concerning the kirtlandtemple 95 the revelations on the persecution suffered by

the missouri saints 98 101 and 103 the prayer of the

prophet while in liberty jail 121 and the lords answer

121 and 122 john taylors description of the martyrdom of

the prophet 135 and the revelation given to brigham young

concerning winter quarters and the camp of israel 136

this chronological character emphasizes that the doctrine and

covenants like all scriptural and many literary works is

historical narrative literary approaches to historicalnarrative can provide important insights into the narrative

into the history and even into the narratoran example of the interpretive richness generated by

literary approaches can be seen in a 1980 journal of mormon

history article by neal lambert and richard cracroft entitledliterary form and historical understanding joseph smiths

first vision lambert and cracrofts literary analysis

traces a succession of significant textual alterations in

four versions of joseph smiths account of the first vision

they conclude that a close examination of these accounts

10

reveals that in these renderings of the visionjoseph smith jr made literary structural and

stylistic changes which not only reflect hischanging understanding of the event in the sacredgrove but also demonstrate that in the accounts

of 1832 1835 1838 and the 1841 wentworth

letter joseph moved from writing of histranscendent experience as a young man influencedby the protestant tradition of spiritualautobiography to writing profoundly of the event as

the leader restorer and prophet of a unique

religious movement destined to growth and

greatness 32332

the

3

1832 version lambert and cracroft assert ischaracterized by an elaborate complicated syntax and a

highly elevated florid diction set in long convoluted and

soaring sentences 37 8 by 1835 the prophet had acquired

a better capacity for expressing the uniqueness of his

experience to his prophetic role and the destiny of the

restored church as evidenced by a simple and more confident

style of the narration 37 the 1838 version isdistinguished by a restrained straightforward matter of

fact style consisting of long sentences which lack

embellishment affectation and rhetorical flourish 38

in some ways the prophets experience is not unlike

that of beginning writers who often imitate models of what

version

they assume to be good writing instead of letting theirwriting reveal their thoughts and feelings in a personal way

they produce material that is detached and impersonal

material that to some extent misrepresents them theprophet early in his call relied upon a style similar to thatof his contemporaries both in and outside the church As

time passed and the prophet gained writing experience his

style changed accordingly he became more comfortable with

his writing ability no longer concerned with imitatingothers styles he recognized the need for clear writing as

insurance against misunderstanding and confusion potentialbarriers that had to be overcome as new religious socialeconomic and political ideas were introduced such insightscan be focused through the lens of a literary approach in

this case a traditionally formalistic approach to a

historical narrativeA similar approach has yet to be taken with the doctrine

and covenants lambert and cracroft used four accounts of

the first vision to trace changes in literary style thereare more than 130 revelations in the doctrine and covenants

most of which follow a chronological order thereby making

the task of tracking textual variations easier this is not

to suggest of course that such an undertaking would by any

means be simple but examinations of this type could revealmuch information about the nature of revelation the prophet

joseph smith and the historical situation of doctrine and

covenants events

12

the doctrine and covenants firm grounding in historymakes it possible to view its sections as episodes in earlychurch history and the book as a whole as the larger story

those episodes compose on that larger scale the doctrineand covenants is primarily the story of the rise and

development of the church from 1823 to 1847 in a sense the

church is the protagonist the world the antagonist the

tension or conflict necessary to every great story comes

between the forces of good and evil as a good institutionis established in an evil world hyrum M smith and janne

M sjodahl observe that the doctrine and covenants with itsinherent narrative form enables us to follow the tenderwatch care of god over the infant church during its days of

numerical weakness and the incessant assaults of theadversary ir the form of persecution temptations and

apostasy and to watch the retreat of the people of god into

the wilderness xiii

short story

closer up the doctrine and covenants may be viewed as a

collection of short stories the explanatory introduction to

the doctrine and covenants provides an overview of thoseepisodic individual historical events that combine to createthe larger history

13

i

in the revelations ones sees the restoration and

unfolding of the gospel of jesus christ and theushering in of the dispensation of the fulnessfalness of

times the westward movement of the church from

new york and pennsylvania to ohio to missouri to

illinois and finally to the great basin of western

america and the mighty struggles of the saints in

attempting to build zion on the earth in modern

times are also shown forth in these revelations

though many of the narrative revelations of the doctrineand covenants may be considered short stories to some degree

it should be noted that the term short story is used

loosely here by stricter definition these doctrine and

covenants events more closely parallel tales than shortstories short stories are brief concise usually fictionalnarratives which often include an epiphany some moment of

insight discovery or revelation by which a characterslife or view of life is greatly altered kennedy 11

although many of the revelations relate such crucialepiphaniesepiphanios indeed many are epiphaniesepiphanios in and of themselves

many doctrine and covenants sections do not meet other

criteria generally expected of the short story such as the

traditional reliance on details for character and plotdevelopment the revealing of a character through a series of

events or the creation of vividly rendered scenes

14

is

these sections tend to be closer in form to the tale a

story true or fictitious that sets forth strange and

wonderful events in a more or less bare summary without

detailed character drawing its goal is revelation of the

marvelous rather than revelation of character kennedy 5

because many of the revelations read like tales yet relatemoments of epiphany they may be read to advantage from thecomplementing vantage points of both short story and tale

A good example may be found in section 121 where joseph

smith while being held prisoner in liberty jail during the

winter and spring of 1838391838 pleads39 with the lord for relieffor the suffering saints and revenge on those causing thesuffering elray L christiansen describes the conditions

they were confined in one room with two small

windows no provision had been made to heat theroom there was no chimney to draw out the smoke

the brethren slept on piles of straw on the floor

their food was of the coarsest kind 394039

dramatic

40

as these circumstances are details concerning the

incarceration are sketchy in the revelation itself indeed

much of it is summary in describing the events surrounding

the incarceration the prophet mentions only the wrongs of

his people and his servants and that they have cried to

the lord for help v 2 the account of the abuse gets no

more specific than general reference to unlawful

15

oppressions v 3 labeling the oppressors enemies v

5 and the barest mention of suffering saints v 6

that there is considerable additional information can be seen

in such volumes as joseph smiths historyhistorv of the church of

jesus christ of latter day saints parley P prattsautobioqraphyautobiography dean C jessees the personal writingsWri oftinosjoseph smith or even the section heading the lack of

historical details in section 121 may serve to emphasize theanswer provided by the lord rather than the question posed by

the prophet certainly that answer is stressed by thestructure the first six verses comprise the plea while the

subsequent forty verses constitute the response a ratio of

almost 17 characterization is slight readers may sense

the prophets anguish and frustration and something of his

consolation less is revealed about the prophet than the

lord who in a scathing rebuke of the prophets enemies

reveals much about their character and personality

but if there are aspects of tale in section 121 thereare also illuminating short story elements the moment of

epiphany in this section is in the first verse of the lordsresponse to the prophets plea thine adversity and thine

afflictions shall be but a small moment v 7 As evidence

of this epiphanal moment walker notes a crescendo of

intensity in language complexity in syntax and lyricism in

technique suggesting a definite increase in spiritualinfluence throughout the prayer it is as though from his

16

oppress ions

simple opening question to his final rhapsodic plea theprophet were being filled increasingly with the spirit 98

christiansen shares walkers respect for the language of

section 121 from that prison came some of the most

beautiful and sublime thoughts and writings ever given to the

world they will endure among sacred literature of the

church for all time 394039 stephen40 L richards similarlyobserved I1 cannot forbear to read to you those well known

verses of the conclusion of the 121st section of the doctrineand covenants which express in such beautiful language I1

sometimes think the most beautiful to be found in allliterature 12

yet section 121 for all its impressive short storyaspects embodies enough elements of a tale that it istreated as such by church members many of whom consider itamong the most satisfying messages from church historyconcerning adversity it is likely the most frequency

consulted and referenced revelation when comfort is sought

it is for example included in lyons work as one of the

doctrine and covenants inspirational readings readersare immediately sympathetic to the prophets condition in

oppressive and depressing circumstances missing family and

friends the section is circulated widely likeilke a taletaie as a

story about a righteous person unrighteously judged and

punished who at wits end when he could tolerate no more

abuse sought and received divine consolation

17

12 1 F rom mos t

i s

taleas

illiii inoisanois

saga

saga in the sense of a historical account of heroic

adventure among members of historically important familiesis also found in the doctrine and covenants adventure isprevalent in the accounts related in the doctrine and

covenants with regard to the family of joseph smith and such

other prominent families as the youngs and the taylors and

the pratts and the richardsesRichardrichardsen the saga like qualities of the

prophets adventurous life are highlighted by john henryevans in joseph smith an american prophet

here is a man who was born in the stark hills of

vermont who was reared in the backwoods of new

york who never looked inside a college or high

school who lived in six states no one of which

would own him during his lifetime who spent months

in the vile prisons of the period who even when

he had his freedom was hounded like a fugitivewho was covered once with a coat of tar and

feathers and left for dead who with hisfollowing was driven by irate neighbors from new

york to ohio from ohio to missouri and from

missouri to illinois and who at the unripe age of

thirty eight was shot to death by a mob with

painted faces yet this man became mayor of the

biggest town in illinois and the states most

18

ses

prominent citizen the commander of the largestbody of trained soldiers in the nation outside the

federal army the founder of cities and of a

university and aspired to become president of the

united states he wrote a book that has baffledthe literary critics for a hundred and sixtyyears and which is today more widely read than any

other volume save the bible he established themost nearly perfect social mechanism in the modern

world and developed a religious philosophy thatchallenges anything of the kind in historyhe set up the machinery for an economic system thatwould take the fears out of the heart of man

in nearly every nation are men and women

who look upon him as a greater leader than moses

and a greater prophet than isaiah and hisdisciples now number in the millions prologue

while the restrained tone of the doctrine and covenants

tends to play down these adventures most of them are in the

book joseph smith performs sacred ordinances translates and

interprets and publishes scripture preaches the gospel

utters prophecies and receives visions entertains angelicmessengers confounds enemies acquires land makes plans for

the building of cities and temples organizes conferences

stakes and missions establishes a health code and designs

an economic system and there are narratives in the doctrine

19

and covenants as tragic as any saga when the prophet must

confront associates about false doctrines and impure

practices lose many close friends through apostasy face

persecution endure incarceration and suffer martyrdom

biography

closely associated with saga is biography a writtenaccount of an individuals life centered on the characterand career of its subject holman and harmon 56 while

dozens of biographies have been written on various persons

mentioned in the doctrine and covenants this volume is in

itself a biography and in many cases may be the firstbiography of some of the most prominent personalities of the

restoration reynolds cahoon jared carter james covilloliver cowdery martin harris orson hyde luke and lyman

johnson william law thomas marsh edward partridge william

phelps orson and parley pratt sydney rigdon the smith

family john taylor ezra thayre the whitmer family newel

whitney lyman wight frederick williams wilford woodruff

and brigham young

granted most of these people are discussed incidentallyor at most sporadically references to individuals in the

doctrine and covenants usually constitute mere snapshots of

their lives but in the case of joseph smith the biography is

fuller section 135 in itself may be considered a briefbiography written by john taylor who witnessed the

20

martyrdom of joseph and hyrum smith at carthage in 1844

section 135 is essentially a eulogy honoring the prophetjoseph smith but it also reviews his life and evaluates his

contribution to the world joseph smith the prophet and

seer of the lord has done more save jesus only for thesalvation of men in this world than any other man that lived

in it v 3 taylor recounts the prophets most

significant achievements the translation of the book of

mormon the spreading of the gospel the publication of the

doctrine and covenants the gathering of the saints and the

founding of nauvoo though biographical details are sketchy

in this section apart from the account of the martyrdom

many more can be found throughout the doctrine and covenants

parable

other doctrine and covenants literary forms are more

scripturally specific apocalypse prophecy parable the

doctrine and covenants relates seven parables the parable of

the twelve sons 3826273826 the27 parable of the wheat and the

tares 8617861 the7 parable of the servants in the field8851618851 the61 parable of the nobleman and the olive trees101436210143 the62 parable of the woman and the unjust judge

101819110181 and91 in severely condensed versions the parable

of the fig tree from matthew 24 mark 13 and luke 21

3516 and the parable of the ten virgins from matthew 25

4556

21

three of the doctrine and covenants parables are found

elsewhere in scripture the parable of the wheat and thetares in matthew 13 the parable of the woman and the unjustjudge in luke 18 and the parable of the nobleman and theolive trees in both isaiah 5 and matthew 21 as well as jacob

5 in the book of mormon two remaining parables the parable

of the twelve sons and the parable of the servants in thefield are unique to the doctrine and covenants in the form

in which they are written although their messages may be

reflected in other scriptural parables

parables can reveal insights not only into doctrine but

also into individuals events and circumstances theparable of the twelve sons in section 38 short as it is isilluminating

for what man among you having twelve sons and isno respecter of them and they serve him

obediently and he saith unto the one be thou

clothed in robes and sit thou here and to the

other be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there

and looketh upon his sons and saith I1 am justbehold this I1 have given unto you as a parable and

it is even as I1 am I1 say unto you be one and ifye are not one ye are not mine vv 26726

this

7

parable might be speaking not only of familialtogetherness but of the necessity of unity among church

22

in

membership as well as the quorum of the twelve apostlesalthough this body would not be fully formed until 1835

by june 1829 the office and responsibilities of theapostleship had been revealed 1826 36 and joseph smith

and oliver cowdery ordained to the apostleship the parablemay serve to dramatize the lords expectation regarding the

twelve and their interactions with each other one message

is that the lord is no respecter of persons that the twelve

are equal in standing before him and that they are to act as

a unified body esteeming each other as they do themselves

what would happen in a family where some children should be

clothed in rags and made to suffer want while others livesumptuously every day there would be discontent revoltperhaps crime smith and sjodahl 2056205 using6 the family

unit in this parable is clever the twelve are to be

brethren like the twelve sons in the parable

the carefully etched facets of doctrine and covenants

parable refract considerable light into church history and

theology four of the seven parables focus on farming

practices like the audience to whom many of the new

testament parables were aimed the saints to whom theseparables were addressed were a farming people a largelyagrarian society and therefore a people who could more

easily extract meaning from such parables as the parable of

the wheat and the tares the parable of the servants in the

field the parable of the nobleman and the olive trees and

23

the parable of the fig tree because of their firsthandfirstexperience

hand

with agriculture

proverbs

wisdom literature a formulaic expression of moral

wisdom and truth holman and harman 529 is also found in

abundance in the doctrine and covenants it most often takes

the form of concise proverbs aphorisms or maxims it isliterature characterized by reflection on life by one who

has observed it at length and is passing on valuableconclusions karleen 111 walker referring to wisdom

literature observes the doctrine and covenants isimpressive for a simple condensed straightforwardness thatlends itself to statements remarkably rich in implication

427

in relating wisdom literatures applicability to liferoy W doxey writes the doctrine and covenants containsnumerous teachings and pithy sayings that powerfully

influence the daily lives and feelings of latter day saintswhich set the tone for church service and instill vitalityinto the work 407 widtsoeWidt insoe his chapter on the

doctrine and covenants as literature compiled a list of some

fifty six such statements A sampling follows

for I1 the lord cannot look upon sin with the leastdegree of allowance 131

24

concise

remember the worth of souls is great in the sightof god 1810

he that keepethkeeneth the laws of god hath no need tobreak the laws of the land 5821

and in nothing doth man offend god or against none

is his wrath kindled save those who confess not

his hand in all things and obey not hiscommandments 5921

I1 the lord will forgive whom I1 will forgive but

of you it is required to forgive all men 6410

I1 the lord am bound when ye do what I1 say but

when ye do not what I1 say ye have no promise

8210

what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed

upon him and he receive not the gift behold he

rejoices not in that which is given unto him

neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the

gift 8833

and truth is knowledge of things as they are and

as they were and as they are to come 9324

25

whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto

in this life it will rise with us in theresurrection 13018

it is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance

1316

other typical doctrine and covenants proverbs are found

on pages 1437143 of7 widtsoesWidt worksoes the messageMes ofsacre the doctrineand covenants doxey lists those included here plus eleven

more in his article doctrine and covenants overview in theencyclopedia of mormonism 1 407 As these examples show

the prophet joseph smith had considerable skill with the

poetic language of the religious experience lambert and

cracroft 41 and nowhere is this skill demonstrated more

fully than in the doctrine and covenants

apocalypse

apocalyptic literature predicts the ultimate destiny

usually destruction of the world often through a kind of

symbolism that is obscure strange or difficult holman and

harmon 32 john gabel and charles wheeler note five

criteria of apocalyptic literature four of which apply to

apocalyptic portions of the doctrine and covenants firstthe level of conflict in apocalypses is cosmic where

heaven earth and hell comprise the stage 132 second

26

the drama of apocalypse presents two mighty opposites who

must meet in mortal combat these two forces one good and

the other evil are so closely matched that only with the

greatest of difficulty will one ultimately overcome the

other 132 the forces of good will ultimately triumph

but in the meantime evil forces appear to have theadvantage

third this body of literature is less concerned with

actual history than with the end of history death

resurrection judgment reward and punishment 1323132

fourth

3

apocalyptic literature frequently takes the form of

a report of a vision experienced by the speaker in the work

133 there is usually a heavy reliance on imagery and

symbolism and the responsibility of the seer is thereforetwofold to describe the vision and then to interpret it

A considerable number of revelations in the doctrine and

covenants meet these criteria and therefore qualify as

apocalyptic literature 1 29 33 45 63 65 76 77 86

88 130 133 treat this topic almost exclusively while

dozens of other sections discuss apocalyptic events to some

extent section 1 as the preface to the doctrine and

covenants sets the stage for coming events as a voice of

warning v 4 the first twenty eight verses of section 29

describe the events comprising the apocalypse section 33

strongly encourages repentance and preparation for thekingdom of heaven is at hand v 10 section 45 emphasizes

events preceding the second coming while section 63

27

describes the behavioral differences between the faithful and

the wicked in the last days section 65 provides assurance

that the lord will appear and subdue his enemies section76 the vision of the three degrees of glory focuses almost

exclusively on the rewards and punishments to be given to the

righteous and unrighteous respectively while section 77

received one month later clarifies obscure passages in the

book of revelation sections 86 and 88 received within

three weeks of each other both describe the processes by

which the wicked will be separated from the righteous

section 130 sheds more light on the celestial kingdom and

section 133 as the appendix to the doctrine and covenants

reiterates the apocalyptic message given in the preface

tragedy

another aspect of the literary richness of the doctrineand covenants is its tragic dimension although this term

has many definitions in literature in general tragedy

recounts the fall of persons of high degree holman and

harmon 505 tragedy in religious literature inevitablyinvolves succumbing to sin failing to appropriate the

things of god to avail oneself of revelation to

accept gods offer of grace karleen 110 leland ryken a

noted scholar in biblical literary studies makes a

distinction between biblical and non biblical tragedy

between the unsympathetic sinner and the sympathetic

28

victim 106 the scriptural tragic figure triggers tragicconsequences through his own actions the secular herostragedy the result of being acted upon elicits more readercommiseration

but the doctrine and covenants contains examples of

both some of the trials heaped upon the saints were a resultof their disobedience others were instances in which the

lord permitted them to suffer for various reasons following

the loss of the book of lehi manuscript joseph smith was

warned

behold thou art joseph and thou wast chosen to do

the work of the lord but because of transgression

if thou art not aware thou wilt fall but

remember god is merciful therefore repent of thatwhich thou hast done which is contrary to thecommandment which I1 gave you and thou art stillchosen and art again called to the work except

thou do this thou shaltshallshailshait be delivered up and become

as other men and have no more gift 391139

martin

11

harris was similarly warned I1 the lord foresee

that if my servant martin harris humblethhum notbleth himself and

receive a witness from my hand that he will fall intotransgression 532

sections 39 and 40 outline the tragedy of james covillwho covenanted with the lord that he would obey any command

29

receive

that the lord would give to him through joseph the prophet

and to whom the lord said I1 have looked upon thy works and

I1 know thee and verily I1 say unto thee thine heart is now

right before me at this time and behold I1 have bestowed

great blessings upon thy head 3978397 the8 lord reminds

james of his reluctance due to pride and worldly concerns

to follow him he is then commanded to seek the lordsforgiveness and to be baptized in preparation for hismission to ohio where he is to call people to repentance

baptize them and give them the gift of the holy ghost

within a few weeks however james covill rejected the word

of the lord and returned to his former principles and

people because satan tempted him and the fear of

persecution and the cares of the world caused him to rejectthe word 402

the doctrine and covenants story of james covill isdefinitively tragic covill was a deeply religious person

having been a baptist minister for nearly four decades he

had at one time made up his mind to follow the savior and

to help others do the same in what can be interpreted as an

attempt to promote a smooth transition between his former

lifestyle and his new one the lord called james on a

mission giving him an opportunity to use what were

undoubtedly his greatest strengths working with people and

teaching them gospel principles he was accustomed to thedemands of a christian lifestyle and understood something of

how the spirit could change lives it is also probable that

30

he was familiar with the adversarys abilities and efforts in

stifling spiritual progression james was promised a number

of gifts power faith guidance and the lords protectionas he served unable to recognize the brightness of hisfuture and lacking faith in the lords promises james

turned away from the lord and is never mentioned again in

the doctrine and covenants

jamess fall is hard as he seems to have been held in

unusually high esteem by the lord and the prophet his climb

to the heights began forty years earlier the revelationsregarding him came in 1831 and it not unreasonable to assume

that covill had the potential to serve in the highestcouncils of the still young church he was important enough

in the eyes of both the prophet and the lord to warrant two

personal revelations concerning him yet james broke hiscovenant within one month of receiving the revelations in a

fall as final as that of the once mighty lucifer whose own

fall from grace is perhaps the most tragic of all

poetry

perhaps more than any other literary form the doctrineand covenants lends itself most readily to poetry section65 reads much like a biblical psalm a portion of section 84

like an anthem many passages have successfully been set to

music arguably poetry of some kind can be found on

virtually every page of the text and at least twenty

31

revelations contain distinctly poetic passages that may rivalthe best religious poetry ever written sections 18 25 38

43 46 50 65 84 85 88 93 109 110 121 122 123 128

133 137 and 138 include particularly poetic passages

A small number of scholars have recognized the poeticpotential of the doctrine and covenants among the first was

lyon who in 1948 wrote portions of the revelationscontained in the doctrine and covenants contain beautifulpoetry although the form in which the book is printed tends

to obscure such expression 199200199 taking200 his admiration

a step further he suggested that some of the poetry in

doctrine and covenants is even musical at times the

prophet joseph smith under the inspiration of the lord rose

to the heights of spiritual illumination and when so

stimulated wrote words that make edifying anthems 202

more recently cracroft and lambert have written about

joseph smiths poetic abilities using section 110 as an

example of the prophets skillful use of metaphor they

conclude

joseph had written with eloquent and poeticgrandeur his eyes were as a flame of fire the

hair of his head was white like the pure snow his

countenance shone above the brightness of the sun

and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of

great waters even the voice of jehovah the

metaphorical language and the elaborate figures of

32

speech are not only appropriate in this vision of

1836 but as language are remarkably successfulonly a poetic diction and a figurative language can

carry the burden of the extraordinary experiencebeing rendered here and in that sense themetaphors and similes that joseph uses are rightthe eyes of fire for instance remind us of the

frequent use of light and lightning to describe the

face of the divine indeed the heavenly pillar of

josephs first vision is interchangeably referredto as one of light or of fire furthermore the

equation of the voice with the rushing of greatwaters suggests not only irresistible power and

volume but a terrible beauty and in the end a

source of life as well 38

other sections warrant consideration as poetrypetersen asks readers to consider particularly sections 76

and 88 which exhibit an organicism that would satisfy the

most critical of poets or section 93 for thatsublimity and transcendence of thought that marks the truepoet joseph smith poet prophet 269 walker observes in

section 85 a crescendo in style from simple journalisticreporting to one of eloquent and magnificent poeticprophesying 105

clearly the doctrine and covenants contains poetry the

crucial literary question is how successful that poetry is

33

for

for petersen who examined joseph smiths literary abilitiesthe single most important criterion of successful poetry isemotional intensity all great poets must depict vividly the

passion and agony of the soul during lifes most tryingmoments 267 ryken observes poetry like the rest of

literature is the interpretive presentation of human

experience in an artistic form 187 whose primary goal isto raise the readers consciousness about the issues of

life 220 orson F whitney in his treatise oratorypoesy and prophecy says that the essence of poetry is in

thought sentiment symbolism and power of suggestion itis the music of ideas as well as the music of language

531

using these definitions it is not difficult to findpassages in the doctrine and covenants that can be classifiedas first rate poetry some of that poetry is buried in what

at first glance appears to be pedestrian prose

seek to bring forth and establish my zion

keep my commandments in all things

and if you keep my commandments

and endure to the end

you shall have eternal lifewhich gift is the greatest of all the gifts of god

1467146 7

34

there is a loose pattern hidden in this passage an

alteration in line length the longer lines 1 3 and 5

are separated by the shorter lines 2 and 4 the resultingalternation lends a sense of rhythm to these verses which

tend to focus the reader on its chiasmic internalproposition keep my commandments in all things you shallhave eternal life

this poetic structure is deftly reinforced by sound

patterns the alliteration in the last line knits togethergods gifts through the recurring g of gift greatestgifts and god the alliterative interweavings of establishendure end and eternal similarly tie together thelastingness of those godly gifts keep my commandments

the emphatic central message of the passagepassagerpas issagersaget appropriately

repeated twice

these elements simple as they are combine to make thisscripture poetic vivid telling memorable formally apt for

its message yet the poetry of the passage is so subtly

understated we might not have noticed if george H durham had

not used these verses for a musical composition thegreatest gift of god published in the first volume of a

collection entitled festival anthems lyon 205

often doctrine and covenants poems are more obvious

0 ye nations of the earthhow often would I1 have gathered you togetherAs a hen gatherethgat herhereth chickens under her wings

35

but ye would not

how oft have I1 called upon you

by the mouth of my servants

and by the ministering of angels

and by mine own voice

and by the voice of thunderingsthunde

and

rings

by the voice of lightnings

and by the voice of tempests

and by the voice of earthquakes

and great hailstormshailstorkshailand

storms

by the voice of famines

and pestilences of every kind

and by the great sound of a trump

and by the voice of judgment

and by the voice of mercy all the day long

and by the voice of glory and honor

and the riches of eternal lifeand would have saved you

with an everlasting salvationbut ye would not

behold the day has come

when the cup of the wrath

of mine indignation is full 4324264324

the

26

parallelistic reiterations of those by the voices

of enact the poems central premise of how often the lord

reached out to save us the passage is impressively

36

orchestrated eight repetitions of by the voice of

demonstrate how far the lord is willing to go in saving hispeople the lords compassion is implicit in the pattern of

the poem he tries spiritual approaches in warning his

children before resorting to physical warnings moving from

less drastic to more drastic signs thunderingsthunde andringslightnings then tempests then earthquakes and hailstormshailstorkshailand

storms

finally famines and pestilences the poems emotion

too is reflected by poetic structure lines are longer where

the destruction is greatest then the lines tail off intowistful wishes of promise descending through ever shorter and

quieter lines to the culminating thundering fullness of thatfinal apocalyptic clause

some sections are poetic in their entirety notably

section 65

hearken and lo10

A voice as of one sent down from on high

who is mighty and powerful

whose going forth is unto the ends of the earthyea whose voice is unto men

prepare ye the way of the lordmake his paths straight

the keys of the kingdom of god

are committed unto man on the earthand from thence shall the gospel roll forth

37

unto the ends of the earthAs the stone which is cut out

of the mountain without hands

shall roll forth

until it has filled the whole earth

yea a voice cry ing

prepare ye the way of the lordprepare ye the supper of the lamb

make ready for the bridegroom

pray unto the lord

call upon his holy name

make known his wonderful works among the people

call upon the lord

that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth

that the inhabitants thereof may receive itand be prepared for the days to come

in the which the son of man

shall come down in heaven

clothed in the brightness of his glory

to meet the kingdom of god

which is set up on the earth

wherefore may the kingdom of god go forth

that the kingdom of heaven may come

38

crying

that thou 0 god mayest be glorifiedin heaven so on earththat thine enemies may be subdued

for thine is the honor power and glory

forever and ever amen 161

section

6

65 may constitute the closest example of a psalm

in the doctrine and covenants A careful study of section 65

will indicate that it contains the literary elements of

a true psalm A comparison of this section and one of the

biblical psalms will prove interesting from the point of view

of literary similarity lyon 200 201 if C S lewis isright that the psalm is enjoyment that spontaneously

overflows into praise a kind of inner health made audible

90890 section8 65 with its rhapsodic praise of that stone

rolling forth to fill the earth qualifiessection 84961028496 has102 also been extolled as a psalm

lyon 202 this passage is unique in that verses 969896

serve

98

as a prelude to the following four verses 9910299

each

102

of which forms its own stanza and is presented in verse

form in the doctrine and covenants requiring no additionalversification comprising the psalm are three stanzas of five

lines followed by a four line concluding verse lyon notes

that arthur shepherd set the words of this passage to music

in the form of an anthem published under the title the lord

hath brought again zion 202 this musical arrangement

he writes has been widely used by choirs of many christian

39

denominations as well as those of our own church note the

grandeur of the thought as well as the beauty of its form

202

verses 192319 of23 section 128 have been put to similar use

as the text for song of praise also an anthem composed by

B cecil gates lyon 203 verse 23 is particularly fine

let the mountains shout for joy

and all ye valleys cry aloud

and all ye seas and dry lands

tell the wonders of your eternal king

and ye rivers and brooks and rillsflow down with gladness

let the woods and all the treesof the field praise the lordand ye solid rocks weep for joy

and let the sun moon

and morning stars sing together

and let all the sons of god shout for joy

and let the eternal creations declare his name

forever and ever

walker cites this passage as evidence not only of the

prophets rhetorical ability but also his poetic competence

much of this final segment of section 128 is not

only remarkable prose but sheer poetry notice

40

for example how facilely verse 23 adapts itself to

poetic form the concluding passage of the

revelation verse 23 is exultant exhilarated and

profound a masterpiece of stylistic craftsmanship

1034103

verse

4

23 is a nature psalm a psalm in which nature as

the subject is used to praise god as creator its inclusionin the doctrine and covenants may be for the same reason thatcertain parables are included the earliest readers of the

volume were farmers who like the earliest readers of

biblical psalms had both a utilitarian and aestheticappreciation of nature ryken 250 consider how closely itparallels the king james version of psalm 148

praise ye the lordpraise ye the lord from the heavens

praise him in the heights

praise ye him all his angels

praise ye him all his hostspraise ye him sun and moon

praise him all ye stars of lightpraise him ye heavens of heavens

and ye waters that be above the heavens

let them praise the name of the lord

for he commanded and they were created 151 5

41

231

praise the lord from the earthye dragons and all deeps

fire and hail snow and vapourjapourstormy wind fulfilling his word

mountains and all hillsfruitful trees and all cedars

beasts and all cattlecreeping things and flying fowl 7 10

theme

at least as important as these formal elements in the

literary aspect of the doctrine and covenants is theme

the literary qualities of the bible are accounted

for partly by the themes treated the themes

of biblical literature are among the greatest thatliterature can treat god humanity the physical

universe and their interrelations such problems

as morality relationship of human beings to theunseen world and ultimate human destinies are

treated with an intensity and vigor seldom matched

in world literature holman and harmon 515251

the

52

doctrine and covenants like the bible succeeds as

literature at least partly because of the themes it explores

42

compare the catalogue above with the one from the explanatory

introduction to the doctrine and covenants

in the revelations the doctrines of the gospel are

set forth with explanations about such fundamental

matters as the nature of the godhead the origin of

man the reality of satan the purpose of

mortality the necessity for obedience the need

for repentance the workings of the holy spiritthe ordinances and performances that pertain to

salvation the destiny of the earth the futureconditions of man after the resurrection and the

judgment the eternity of the marriagerelationship and the eternal nature of the family

A single theme alone justifies the study of the doctrine

and covenants as literature the testimony that is given of

jesus christ his divinity his majesty his perfection his

love and his redeeming power makes this book of great value

to the human family and of more worth than the riches of the

whole earth explanatory introduction

an undervalued text

As long as the doctrine and covenants is perceived as a

kind of manual rather than a collection of beautifullycrafted prose and poetry worthy of literary analysis there

4 3

may be a tendency however unintentional to underestimate

the value of this volume not only in the governance of thechurch but in human life these revelations were received

in answer to prayer in times of need and came out of reallife situations involving real people people whose only

consolation was the tender but firm voice of the lord jesus

christ speaking anew in the dispensation of the fulnessfalness of

times explanatory introduction stories and sayings and

poems such as these demand and deserve literary explication

it is true the revelations were received individuallyand intermittently and only later published as a collection

it is true that the doctrine and covenants is formally and

thematically diverse even fragmented almost every sectioncould require a different literary approach add to that a

general confusion concerning the nature of revelation and

the task of explicating the doctrine and covenants as

literature becomes daunting

but literary and scriptural studies centuries old have

already faced these challenges and have overcome them

methods have already been developed which have paved the way

for productive doctrine and covenants studies the notion

that literary approaches somehow lend themselves more readily

to explications of the bible and the book of mormon isinaccurate after all the manner in which both volumes were

created is not dissimilar to the origin of the doctrine and

covenants all three scriptural works were created through

similar methods and for similar purposes the bible and the

44

in

book of mormon are anthologies that contain the inspiredreligious and historical writings of individuals whose

responsibility it was to teach gospel principles and

encourage adherence to those principles for all the

differences of historical condition and cultural milieu thesame is true of the doctrine and covenants

the time is right for more serious and more thorough

research into the doctrine and covenants as literaturethese studies should be initiated for the same reasons thatother scriptural literary analyses have been performed theking james version of the bibles literary greatness was

originally discovered and recently resurrected mainly through

scholarly explication literary study of the doctrine and

covenants could yield all the benefits that such scholarship

offers this thesis will attempt to demonstrate the value of

literary approaches to what seems to be an undervalued text

45

is

chapter 2

SECTION 76 AS POETRY

overview

this second chapter will attempt to serve two purposes

first it will introduce the reader to section 76 of thedoctrine and covenants as poetry second it will analyze

this revelation through the identification classificationand explication of portions of section 76 that contain

traditional features characteristic of hebrew poetry theanalysis will be predominantly formalistic in approach and

will rely on the 1981 edition of the doctrine and covenants

the vision

section 76 is one of the best known revelations in the

doctrine and covenants for it presents some of the most

beautiful and inspiring doctrines ever revealed dubbed the

vision section 76 was given to joseph smith and sidney

rigdon on february 16 1832 while the two were in hiram

ohio circumstances concerning the reception of therevelation are sketchy as only a few reports have survived

in the preface to section 76 joseph smith states that upon

his return from a conference he continued his translation of

the bible while translating st johns gospel myself

46

and elder rigdon saw the following vision 136 more

specifically it was during the translation of john 529 thatthe vision was received A written account of the vision was

published in the evening and the morning star in july of1832 approximately five months after its reception and was

included in the 1835 edition of the doctrine and covenants

some sixty years after the revelation was firstpublished philo dibble published his account of theexperience in the may 15 1892 issue of the juvenileinstructor dahl 280 dibble recalls that the visionoccurred in the home of john johnson located about thirtyfive miles from kirtland johnson had opened his home tojoseph smith and his family so the prophet could work on the

translation from september 1831 to march 1832 the johnson

home functioned as the headquarters for the church backman

and cowan 63

at the time of the vision dibble claims that there were

other men in the room perhaps twelve among whom I11 was

one dibble did not see the vision but says that he saw

the glory and felt the power commenting on that glory

dibble wrote a second account entitled philo dibblesnarrative published in 1882 also by the juvenijuvenile ieinstructor he states that joseph wore black clothes but

at this time seemed to be dressed in an element of glorious

white and his face shone as if it were transparent dahl

281 dibble and the others watched joseph and sidney who

conversed among themselves as the vision progressed

47

joseph would at intervals say what do I1 see

as one might say while looking out the window and

beholding what all in the room could not see then

he would relate what he had seen or what he was

looking at then sidney replied I1 see the same

presently sidney would say what do I1 see and

would repeat what he had seen or was seeing and

joseph would reply I1 see the same dahl 280

the vision according to dibble lasted the duration of

the time he was there which he calculated to be over an

hour earlier in his account he states that he was present

during the event probably two thirds of the time assuming

this information is accurate dibble would have been present

for about sixty minutes or two thirds of a ninety minute

vision larry E dahl concludes that dibble was probably

present during the latter two thirds of the vision 281

literary quality of section 76

that ninety minute vision is recorded in part as

section 76 a revelation recognizable by virtually any

definition as among the most inherently poetic revelations in

the doctrine and covenants the poetic aspect of the section

is acknowledged by several scholars who have examined the

doctrine and covenants for its literary quality the vision

recorded in this revelation replete with poetic elements

48

similar to those that comprise the finest biblical poetrynyman 105 6 has been compared to some of the most striking

visions in the bible including pauls vision of the gloriesmoreover this section was considered by the prophet joseph

smith to be intrinsically poetic enough in its original form

to warrant his subsequent transformation of it into the poem

discussed in the next chapter yet section 76 has never been

explicated as poetry has never enjoyed the benefit of any

sort of literary analysis

the prophet himself immediately recognized therevelations literary excellence

that document is a transcript from the records of

the eternal world the sublimity of the ideas the

purity of the language the scope for action the

continued duration for completion are so much

beyond the narrow mindedness of men that every

honest man is constrained to exclaim it came from

god 1 2523252

B

3

H roberts who served as editor of the six volume

comprehensive history of the church thought enough of the

revelation to reprint its first ten verses as a footnote to

his discussion of the history surrounding its reception 2

72 robertss additional commentary as an indication of his

fondness for the revelation requires more space on the page

than the main text it is footnotingfoot precedingnoting the note he

49

writes in evidence of the lofty spirit in which the

revelation is pitched and the sublimity of its style as

literature the opening paragraphs are here reproduced which

may be regarded as the preface to the noble theme in the body

of the revelation 2 72 following the reproduction he

offers his appraisal

neither the psalmist nor isaiah has anything more

noble or sublime in their contemplation of god than

this and paul has nothing superior in all hiswritings neither joseph smith nor any of hisassociates uninspired of god were equal to itthere is but one way of accounting for it it came

of the inspiration of god 2 72

john A widtsoe similarly admired the language of the

revelation so much that he reproduced the same verses in hisbook the message of the doctrine and covenants as an

example of poetry asking his readers to consider thethought and expression 495049 alfred50 durham includes the

first six verses of the revelation in the lyrics of hisanthem hear 0 ye heavens and give ear 0 earth a hymn

that lyon claims has won acclaim both within our church and

abroad throughout the land 204 steven C walker praises

section 76 as without question the epitome of stylisticaccomplishment in the doctrine and covenants it is

50

preeminent among the revelations both in its stylisticmajesty and in its sustained spiritual fervor 105

biblical parallels

there is little doubt that section 76 is inherentlypoetic the question is how is it poetic what poetic

characteristics does section 76 possess because of thecircumstances under which it was produced and because itcontains numerous close textual parallels to biblicalpassages section 76 may have more in common with hebrew

poetry than it does with contemporary poetry for thisreason analyses in this chapter will examine section 76 as

biblical rather than contemporary poetry focusing on

chiasmic and repetitive structures parallelism imagery and

figures of speech characteristics commonly found in biblicalpoetry treatment of these elements will be based on models

and discussions of hebrew poetry presented in leland rykensaykens1987 work words of delight A literary introduction to the

bible as well as richard C shipps thesis conceptualpatterns of repetition in the doctrine and covenants and

their implications which organizes certain sections of the

doctrine and covenants into chiasmic structures commonly

found in the bible

excellent treatments of textual parallels between the

doctrine and covenants and the bible are ellis T rasmussensRasmus

textualsens

parallels to the doctrine and covenants and book of

51

in

commandments as found in the bible and lois J smutzsmutzssmutts s

thesis textual parallels to the doctrine and covenants

sections 65 to 133 as found in the bible a nearlyexhaustive listing of clauses and phrases of the two textsthat are similar in diction syntax or meaning thesestudies are nearly identical in their approach as smutzssmuttswork is a continuation of rasmussensRasmus projectsens their mutual

objective was to determine the number of textual parallelsthat exist between the two texts the closeness of

resemblance between the parallel passages the locations in

the texts where parallels occur most frequently and thepurposes served by these textual parallels

both authors point out that the term textual parallelis a vague description requiring definition when discussing

their studies generally a textual parallel is a phrase or

clause similar in construction and meaning or

construction and meaning only to another phrase or clausesmutz 3 but portions of texts can parallel each other to

varying degrees depending on diction syntax context and

phrase length for example to improve accuracy rasmussen

created a code by which to determine how and to what extent

certain scriptural phrases or clauses paralleled each other

343 in4 the final computations he classified parallelsinto five groups verbatim groups slightly changed groups

considerably changed groups parallels in wording only and

parallels in meaning only 5 smutz used the same

classifications in her study

52

l- ii- i iiiili

both rasmussen and smutz reach similar conclusions

there is much correlation and continuity in the settingforth of gospel doctrine laws prophecy and eschatological

material as contained in the bible and doctrine and

covenants smutz 255 there are genuine relationships in

terms of subjects treated as well as language employed

rasmussen 352 rasmussen finds that

examination of key words in about five thousand

word groups yielded about 2 parallels out of every

five examined for a total of 2123 found in the

first 64 sections of the doctrine and covenants

nine of the sections have 2 or more parallels per

verse 38 of them have from 1 to 2 per verse 17

have less than 1 the range of frequency is from

.3333 per verse to 5.00500 per verse the median isabout 1.30130 310

smutz found a total of 2663 parallels eighteen of the

sections have two or more parallels per verse thirty two

have between one and two parallels eighteen have less than

one the range of parallels per verse varies from a ratio of

.1111 per verse to 11.1111 the median is 1.33133 194

53

3- 3 50-0

13-0

13-3

i- il- i iiiili

author section no par range freqverse med freqfrea

rasmussen 1641 212364 .3333

54

3- 3 50-0 13-0

13-3

13-15

5.00500 1.30130smutz 6513365 2663133 .1111 11.1111 1.33133

total number of parallels in sections 11321 4786132

median frequency of parallels per verse 1.3151315

total sections with 2 parallels per verse 27

total sections with 121 parallels2 per verse 70

total sections with 010 parallels1 per verse 35

if these figures are correct then there are nearly 4800

identifiable textual parallels between the doctrine and

covenants and the bible and rasmussen admits that hismethod did not produce an exhaustive list 352 by

extension neither did smutz within the doctrine and

covenants there are at least 97 sections whose verses contain

at least one textual parallel to the bible smutz adds that62 of the verses in the latter half of the doctrine and

covenants contain two or more parallels 254

the analysis in this chapter is based on the premise

that section 76 has a great deal to do with biblical poetry

therefore the results of smutzssmutts analysis of section 76

become significant

total number of parallels in section 76 256

total number of old testament parallels 60

total number of new testament parallels 196

ratio old testament to new testament 13.3133

books in the old testament with the most parallels to

section 76 include in descending order isaiah psalms and

genesis twelve other books had fewer parallels books in

the new testament with the most parallels include in

descending order 1 corinthians hebrews revelationmatthew and john thirteen other books had fewer parallelsthe higher proportion of new testament parallels isconsistent with the ratios found throughout the doctrine and

covenants by both authors smutz 225 rasmussen 342

number of new parallels in section 76 143

ratio of new parallels per verse 1.20120

verbatim parallels in section 76 14

smutzssmutts calculations indicate after factoring inrasmussensRasmus thatsens the section containing the greatest number

of both new and verbatim parallels is section 76 254

verbatim parallels as defined by both rasmussen and smutz

have the same words used in same arrangement and connote

the same general meaning in both sources smutz 3 thehigh number is due in part to references to 1 corinthians1540 41 in which paul discusses the degrees of glory new

55

factor ing

in

in

133

12-0

parallels by their definition are those which are located

for the first time in a given revelation 194 thesestudies clearly demonstrate that the doctrine and covenants

parallels the bible to a considerable degree theseparallels underlie this chapters approach to section 76 as

biblical poetry section 76 as will be shown resembles

hebrew poetry to a considerable degree even though it iscomposed of many new testament phrases

structure of section 76

section 76 of the doctrine and covenants relates thevision given to joseph smith and sidney rigdon concerning the

degrees of glory the culmination and completion of the plan

of salvation a plan that was thoughtfully and intelligentlyconceived and which is effectively and skillfully managed

it should come as no surprise therefore that the revelationgiven and recorded in section 76 is a reflection of the

perfection of the plan just as the plan is a reflection of

the perfection of the designer

structurally section 76 consists of a series of sixvisions a vision of jesus christ a vision of satan a

vision of the sons of perdition then visions of the

inheritors of the celestial terrestrial and telestialkingdoms the section is outlined below with corresponding

verses in parentheses

56

vision of the son of god vv 1241

praise24

of god vv 141

rewards

4

of the righteous vv 5105

power

10

by which the vision was given vv 111311 18191813

testimony

19

of christ vv 14 22 24

john 529 vv 151715

vision

17

of christ and worshippingshippingwor angels vv 202120

vision

21

of satan vv 252925

satansgatans29

authority rebellion and expulsion

vv 25 272927

satansgatans29

other names defined v 26

vision of the sons of perdition vv 304930

definitions

49

and consequences vv 303830

how

38

the resurrection is made possible through christvv 394339

punishment

43

of the wicked v 44

limitations concerning the understanding of theirpunishment vv 454945

vision

49

of the celestial kingdom and its inhabitantsvv 507050

definition

70

of the resurrection of the just and

qualifications for attaining celestial glory vv 50 53

rewards for celestial beings vv 547054 70

57

vision of the terrestrial kingdom and its inhabitantsvv 718071

definition

80

of terrestrial beings and qualifications for

attaining terrestrial glory vv 71 75 79

rewards for terrestrial beings vv 76 78

end of the vision noted v 80

vision of the telestial kingdom and its inhabitantsvv 818881

definition

88

of telestial beings and qualifications for

attaining telestial glory vv 81 85

reward for telestial beings v 86

description of the order of ministration vv 878887

summary

88

of the vision vv 8911389

description

113

of the glory of the telestial kingdom

vv 899089

terrestrial90

kingdom compared vv 91 97

additional information concerning the celestial kingdom

vv 929692

additional

96

information concerning the telestial kingdom

vv 9810698 109112109106

end

112

of the vision noted v 113

58

conclusion vv 114119114

praises119

to the lord vv 114 119

limitations concerning the understanding of the

mysteries of the kingdom vv 115118115

at

118

first glance the ordering of section 76 seems

somewhat loose it is not obviously climactic or emphatic

with events that are least important described first and

those that are most important follow for impact if thiswere the case one would expect a sequence such as this

vision of satan

vision of the sons of perdition

vision of the telestial kingdom

vision of the terrestrial kingdom

vision of the celestial kingdom

vision of the son

neither is the structure obviously chronological where

events occur according to a time sequence a technique

commonly used in narrative writing using the chronological

ordering of the resurrection for example would yield thisorder

vision of the son

vision of the celestial kingdom

vision of the terrestrial kingdom

59

vision

vision

vision

vision

vision of the telestial kingdom

vision of the sons of perdition

vision of satan who will not of course beresurrected

upon closer inspection however there may be a clearorder after all monte nyman in studying the structure of

section 76 makes this observation

in this revelation the sons of perdition are

treated first and then the celestial terrestrialand telestial kingdoms there may be purpose for

this order the sons of perdition had known and

experienced the principles of exaltation necessary

for the celestial kingdom and had rejected them

choosing to follow satan therefore laws designed

for exalting gods children will result in onesbecoming a son of perdition if he meets the

requirements for exaltation and then commits the

unpardonable sin this concept is supported by

there being a definition of the gospel see verses

404340 inserted43 within the description of the

vision concerning the sons of perdition 110

this interpretation adds a sense of order to the

sequence of the visions that the vision of the sons of

perdition is described after the vision of the son makes

60

sense because some of them those who became sons ofperdition in mortality came close to exaltation the firstvision in section 76 is that of an exalted being the thirdof those who came close the vision of satan placed second

before the vision of the sons of perdition also makes sense

using nymans approach consider satansgatans other name

lucifer which means torch bearer or bringer of lighthe was a son of the morning which could either mean son

of light or an early born spirit child of our father in thepre earth life obviously he had great capacity and promise

and influence dahl 284 it is reasonable to assume thatat the height of his power and authority satan also knew the

principles of exaltation he had after all beheld the

exalted and glorified state of the father and has not

forgotten what pre earth conditions were like the sequence

of section 76 makes sense in terms of acquired and potential

exaltation

vision of the son

vision of satan

vision of the sons of perdition

vision of the celestial kingdom

vision of the terrestrial kingdom

vision of the telestial kingdom

something should also be said in terms of contrast in

the sequence contrast for literary effect is the placing

61

satl-an

of opposing elements next to each other for clarity oremphasis the placing of the visions of satan and the sons of

perdition adds emphasis to the visions of the son and the

celestial kingdom described visually the light appears

brighter next to the darkness similar to the noticeabledifference in brilliance between the moon at midnight and atdawn or the stars as seen from the mountains as opposed to a

brightly lit city this contrast in terms of light versus

darkness is visually and symbolically appropriate to section

76s contrasts of good with evilperhaps the most thorough investigation into the

structure of the doctrine and covenants is shipps work

conceptual patterns of repetition in the doctrine and

covenants and their implications relying on similarstudies performed on the old and new testaments shipp

analyzes selected revelations to determine how and to what

degree the revelations are structured and finds that two

pattern forms emerge a simple or direct repetitivestructure A B C D A B C D and a reverse

repetitive structure A B C D D C B A or a

combination of the two his thesis is that these structures

constitute an inherent system of commentary that promotes

scriptural understanding through repetition

shipps study of repetitive patterning in the doctrine

and covenants is valuable not only does it furtherunderstanding of the text it also heightens appreciation for

the text patterns incorporated into language can imply

62

among other things intelligence harmony balance and

direction all patterns demonstrate the intelligence of

creation and therefore are an evidence of their creatorsshipp 14

chiasmus

rhythm in poetry is notoriously impossible to translatefor this reason instead of the usual superficial rhyme and

meter repetitions of sound that are characteristic of english

poetry hebrew poetry relies on conceptual repetitionrepetition of ideas to achieve its rhythm D G kehl

describes the rhythm in hebrew poetry as dependent upon an

inner pulse rather than upon external rule ebbing and

flowing and carrying through its powerful beat theimpelling emotion into the readers mind 15 As a resultbiblical translators were less concerned about retainingoriginal poetic effect through diction and syntax as the form

of the thought itself retained it it was this simple

repetitive rhythmic eloquence independent of internal word

or grammatical structuring that contributed largely to

hebrew poetryspoet enduringrys literary greatness shipp 9

repetition in english and hebrew poetry is alsodistinguishable in another way in english poetry

repetition is usually found on the level of diction where

words are employed based on the sounds that comprise them

resulting in various rhyme schemes and metrical arrangements

63

rhymerhymes concepts can echo or contradict or supplement

related lines anywhere in the poem

one example of this complex patterning is reverse

repetition or chiasmus also called a crossing structureor ring composition which presents a theme or centralmessage through the strategic positioning of textspecifspecia icallyicalla

in hebrew poetry however where repetition occurs at the

level of thought the repetition is syntactic entire linesare organized into various patterns for emphasis

that syntactic patterning allows for powerful rhetoricaleffects by means of hebrew parallelism patterns of

repetition may be constructed within a text to convey

additional insights to the reader through clarificationsexpansions definitions by matching areas of textshipp 1213 in other words in hebrew poetry lines can

specifically a particular line order followed by a

subsequent reversal of that order this poetic pattern used

extensively in biblical texts such as the psalms has been

helpful in revealing central messages within those texts thatmight otherwiseother havewisevise gone unnoticed

shipp finds many chiasmic structures in section 76 A

few visual examples of the patterns he discovered may be

helpful in bringing attention to the structure within the

revelation it should be noted that the identification of

repetitive patterns in hebrew poetry is similar to the

identification of rhyme schemes in english poetry and the

marking system used in determining patterns in both forms is

64

12 13

identical with a letter of the alphabet assigned to eitherindividual rhyming sounds or in the case of hebrew poetry

individual thoughts or concepts prime marks are used to

indicate repetition the identification and marking system

used by shipp has been simplified here for simplicity and

clarityperhaps the single best illustration of chiasmic

patterning occurs interestingly enough in the portion of

the section that describes the vision of the celestialkingdom verses 515351 placed53 on the next page for form

retention

65

and again we bear record for we saw and heard and this is

the testimony of the gospel of christ concerning them who

shall come forth in the morning of the first resurrection of

the just

A they are they who received the testimony of jesus

B and believed on his name

C and were baptized after the manner of his burial

D being buried in the water in his name

E and this according to the commandment

which he has given

E that by keeping the commandments

D they might be washed and cleansed from all their

sins

C and receive the holy spirit by the laying on of the

hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this

power

B and who overcome by faith

A and are sealed by the holy spirit of promise which the father

sheds forth upon all those who are just and true

within these three verses are five pairs of lines thatexpress parallel ideas lines A and A concern two phenomena

related to the influence of the holy ghost the gaining of a

testimony and the assurance of exaltation in the celestialkingdom lines B and B emphasize belief and faith in

christs power to save lines C and C treat the third and

66

fourth principles of the gospel baptism and the reception of

the gift of the holy ghost lines D and D allude to thesymbolism behind the cleansing ordinances lines E and E

the central message of this passage emphasize that theseprinciples and ordinances are commandments given by god

the structure of this passage points to that centraltheme focusing the reader in on that doubled injunction tokeep the commandments the peeling away of outer layerseventually revealing a central core seed or heart in thispassage once the center is discovered everything else fallsmore clearly into place and makes more sense in terms of

application once the commandments are understood and kept

the ordinances discussed may be performed and the promises

made regarding salvation and exaltation will be kept

the sequence of this passage is also noteworthy even

though it has been presented as an example of reverserepetition simultaneously there is direct progression here

the hearing of the gospel message leads to the exercising of

faith which in turn leads to repentance leading to baptism by

immersion as a demonstration of obedience to thecommandments this leads to the reception of the holy ghost

by the laying on of hands leading to faithful endurance to

the end leading to the overcoming of the world leading to

ultimately exaltation in the celestial kingdom

the structure in this passage is unified and complete

it is both linear and circular regressive and progressive

it is repetitive without being redundant and it effectively

67

summarizes the entire gospel message into three versescontaining about one hundred words its placement in the

vision of the celestial kingdom testifies of that kingdom s

order and echoes its inherent beauty

A second example of chiasmic patterning in section 76

climaxes the revelations closing verses 114119114 As119 the

conclusion to the revelation this passage appropriatelyreiterates the sections main theme or message the prophet

encourages readers to purify themselves to be worthy of the

spirit this purification anticipates the promise of

exaltation in the celestial kingdom and of seeing the

savior thus what matters most to both the revealer and the

recipient of the revelation is stressed by the carefullyordered structure of this climactic chiasmus also placed on

the next page for form retention

68

A but great and marvelous are the works of the lord and the

mysteries of his kingdom which he showed unto us which surpass

all understanding in glory and in might and in dominion

B which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet

in the spirit and are not lawful for man to utter neither

is man capable to make them known for they are only to be

seen and understood by the power of the holy spiritC which god bestowsbestons on

D those who love him

D and purify themselves before him

C to whom he grants

B this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves that

through the power and manifestation of the spirit while in

the flesh they may be able to bear his presence in the

world of glory

A and to god and the lamb be glory and honor and dominion forever

and ever amen

lines A and A are praises to the lord line A praises

his works and the mysteries of the kingdom which surpass

all understanding in glory and in dominion

similarly line A ascribes glory and dominion to god and

jesus christ lines B and B discuss limitations concerning

the understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom these

mysteries are only comprehensible by the manifestation of the

spirit lines C and C emphasize god the father as the giver

of the holy ghost

69

here again the sequence is as illuminating as thechiasmus it is the saviors atonement that makes

purification possible in turn purification and a love forgod are required before the spirit can be bestowed by the

father in turn the spirit makes further purificationpossible so that the savior and the father can be seen by

man the patterning is beautifully cyclical as seen by the

subjects of each line lord spirit god humankind

humankind god spirit lord christs role in settingthe process in motion then warrants the praise he receives

at both ends of the poem

the patterns are not limited to individual lines as

shown here rather there are a number of chiasmic patternsfound at all levels of section 76 and other revelations in

the doctrine and covenants as well but section 76 is unique

as a magnificent example of nearly every variety of patternstructuring found with the revelations of the doctrine and

covenants shipp 93

parallelism

closely associated with structure in biblical poetry isparallelism the verse form in which all biblical poetry is

written ryken 180 unlike modern english poetry with itsrhyme and meter hebrew poetry depends for its form primarily

on parallelism sentence structure in which two or more lines

of similar grammatical form express similar ideas but with

70

variations in diction and syntax unlike sound repetitionwhich rarely survives translation repetition in biblicalpoetry occurs at the meaning level and therefore can be

translated leland ryken defines parallelism as a thought

couplet thought triplet when three clauses are used

instead of two 181

an important aspect of parallelism is balance and

symmetry which promote the rhythm within poetic lines theparts of a parallel construction in some sense balance each

other and set up a rhythm they require each other tocomplete the unit of thought ryken 182 in addition to

balance and a rhythmic form parallelism in hebrew poetry

increases a statements impact by reiterating a message

twice and by resisting advancement of a subsequent idea

parallelism focuses attention on a thought and

resists immediate shift to another idea the

complimentary parts of a parallel constructionreinforce an idea in our consciousness there can

be no doubt that if we read biblical poetry as

slowly as it is meant to be read it is a very

affective form of discourse the meanings sink

into our consciousness with great force because of

the element of repetition and retardation the two

parts of a parallel construction say more together

than either would alone 184

71

such poetry is typically found in the books of jobpsalms proverbs ecclesiastes song of solomon isaiahjeremiah lamentations and ezekiel in the old testamentbut parallelism also exists in the doctrine and covenants

definitively for our purposes in section 76 we may well

wonder what ancient hebrew poetry is doing in this modern

volume

the existence of parallelism in the bible is usuallyexplained in terms of its beginnings as oral literature thevery style of the bible is an oral style ryken 356

section 76 of the doctrine and covenants on the other hand

was published soon after it was received in july of 1832

and was not intended to be related orally robert woodford

indicates that the prophet actually discouraged missionariesfrom relating the account instructing them for the time

being that they were to remain silent concerning thegathering the vision and the book of doctrine and

covenants 932

circumstances surrounding the recording of the

revelation seem to indicate its written form to have been a

matter of concern the lord four times commanded the prophet

to write particular portions of the vision vv 28 49 80

113 and in verse 115 he is told not to write certainthings in three of the four verses where joseph smith isinstructed to write he is commanded to write while in the

spirit exactly how long the prophet remained in the

spirit following the vision or how soon this revelation was

72

recorded after its reception is indeterminable but that the

lord commanded its documentation numerous times suggests some

urgency perhaps to assure its preservation amid thepersecution but perhaps to insure its accuracy as well

joseph smiths experience with hebrew through histranslation efforts with the bible does not seem to have had

much to do with the inclusion of hebrew poetry in therevelation the new testament translation was completecompleted in

february of 1833 and the old testament translation was

finished five months after that nearly a year and a halfafter section 76 was received had the prophets hebrew

studies begun earlier these may have had some influence but

the prophet did not incorporate hebrew studies into the

curriculum of the school of the prophets until the earlyarlyariymonths of 1836 zucker 46746

the

7

clear presence of poetic parallelism in section 76

despite the impossibility of hebrew language influence on the

prophet and notwithstanding its definite non oral statusseems to suggest rhetorical even aesthetic purposes for the

poetry the parallelism encourages the comprehension of

certain messages as suggested by the summary of the visionprovided in verses 8911389 the113 parallelism makes the

revelation memorable and enhances the beauty of section 76

73

d libirl

hebrew

e

synonymous parallelism

there are four basic types of parallelism found in

hebrew poetry synonymous antithetic synthetic and

climactic synonymous or balanced parallelism occurs when two

or more consecutive lines having similar forms in grammar or

sentence structure present the same message synonymous

parallelism occurs throughout section 76 but there is an

unusual concentration of this form of poetry in verses 1101

great

10

shall be their reward

and eternal shall be their glory v 6

and their wisdom shall be great

and their understanding reach to heaven v 9

and before them the wisdom of the wise shallperish

and the understanding of the prudent shall come to

naught v 9

note how in these instances as in synonymous parallelismgenerally the lines are similar not only in meaning but in

syntax grammar and even diction that many layered

interlocking contributes to subtle in fact oftensubliminal ramifications of significance even in the most

straightforward verses

74

HEAR 0 ye heavens

and give ear 0 earth v 1

to hear and to give ear both relate the same idea both

lines employ emphatic alliteration and share the oratoricalinterjection 0 but the real rhyme of this couplet is the

repetition of the concept listen up this is more thansimpleminded repetition for the sake of repetition much more

than a kind of divine nagging that tells us exactly the same

thing twice because we failed to listen the first time thissynonymous couplet is an expansion of the idea into broader

perspectives

the final line not only picks up poetic resonances but

assumes additional meanings meanings its preceding mate

though it seems to say essentially the same thing did not

include gods speaking suggests that second line is meant

to be heard not only in the heavens where we would expect

angels to listen but on the less attentive earth and theremay be in that give ear even more demand of carefullistening than in the first lines imperative to hear

that sort of formal amplification of meaning occurs

everywhere synonymous parallelism occurs however monotonous

the repetition may at first sound

75

I1 the lord am merciful and gracious

unto those who fear me

and delight to honor those who serve me

in righteousness and in truth unto the end v 5

fearing the lord and righteously serving him both forms of

demonstrating respect are clearly synonymous the lord issimilarly synonymous in return honoring the respectful and

being merciful and gracious to them the message here of

mutual respect is obvious enough but it may be less obvious

how emphatically the mutuality of that reciprocal respectgets underlined by the unanimity of the parallel concepts

within their parallel syntactic forms

antithetic and synthetic parallelism

A second type of parallelism antithetic or contrastiveparallelism has a second line that reiterates the message of

the first in an opposing manner

let no man glory in man

but rather let him glory in god v 61

though the first line here is negative the second positive

antithetic parallelism usually works the other way around

either way it works dramatically note in this instance how

the play upon man and man and him heightens the

76

contrast of the shift to god lifting us out of our usual

mortal view into a transcendent perspective in such a

subtly poetic context even the let of the first clausebecomes something more in the second adding to the negative

senses of forbid or refuse the positive dimensions of

invite or provide opportunity the second time around

A third type of parallelism is synthetic or growing

parallelism in this type of poem subsequent lines complete

or expand or advance the thought of the first line togetherthey form a thought that would be semantically different were

one of the lines removed As ryken observes to call thisparallelism is something of a misnomer since strictlyspeaking nothing in the second line parallels the first but

these units are obviously thought couplets in which the two

lines together form a unit as in the other types of

parallelism 182 consider a section 76 example

for the lord is god

and beside him there is no savior v 1

in this pair the second line expands on the definitionoffered in the first not only is the lord god he is also

savior and the only savior this type of parallelistic poem

is different from synonymous parallelism not so much in kind

as in degree expanding the natural tendency of parallelismto complicate meaning through repetition to the point that

77

subsequent lines seem more a progression from the originalline than a repetition of it

from eternity to eternity he is the same

and his years never fail v 4

the second line extends those discrete eternities into an

infinity of years god is changeless better yet he isalways there

climactic parallelism

the final form of parallelism is climactic parallelisma collection of short repetitive phrases that lead to a

climax of some kind the climaxes in these examples are

italicized though the pattern is sometimes difficult to

detect because of statements intervening between the repeated

elements the interventions are omitted here for ease in

perceiving the pattern section 76 thrives on this pattern

having denied the holy spirit after having received

it and having denied the only begotten son of the

fatherhaving crucified him unto themselves and put him to

an open shame

these are they who shall go away into the lake of

fire and brimstone vv 35635 6

78

IS

that he came into the world even jesus

to be crucified for the world

and to bear the sins of the world

and to sanctify the world

and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness

that through him all might be saved vv 41 2

wherefore he saves all except them

they shall go away

into everlasting punishment

which is endless punishment

which is eternal punishment

to reign with the devil

and his angels in eternityand the end thereof

neither the place thereofnor their torment

no man knows

neither was it revealed

neither isneither will be

revealed unto man vv 44 45645

and

6

are priests of the most high

after the order of melchizedek

which was after the order of enoch

which was after the order of the only begotten son

79

sins

some of christand some of john

and some of moses

and some of eliasand some of esaiasand some of isaiahand some of enoch

but received not the gospel

80

whereforetherefore as it is written they are gods

even the sons of god vv 57857

and

8

the glory of the celestial is one

even as the glory of the sun is one

and the glory of the terrestrial is one

even as the glory of the moon is one

and the glory of the telestial is one

even as the glory of the stars is one

for as one star differs from another star in glory

even so differs one from another in glory

in the telestial world

for these are they who

are of paul

and of apollos

and of cephas

these are they who say they

are some of one

and some of another

neither the testimony of jesus

neither the prophets

neither the everlasting covenant vv 96 101

word motifs

in addition to the larger syntactic patterns of

parallelism and chiasmus the doctrine and covenants includes

considerable repetitive patterning of individual words

section 76 features dozens of words that are repeatedthroughout the revelation often incrementally with

accumulation of meaning from each additional echo

there is for example an abundance of referencesthroughout the revelation to the senses fifteen words

relate to hearing and listening hear ear voice

seen saw vision beheld that stress on perception

seems thoroughly appropriate in this vision and a vision

intent on raising reader perceptions to transcendent levels

those word motifs subliminally stress the most important

matters in the revelation creating patterns indicatingsignificant themes references to the father and the son

for example collectively total ninety six this means thateighty percent of the verses in section 76 include such

references the name jesus christ alone is mentioned

fifty one times an average of almost one reference every

other verse

81

ssightight repetitions of eyethirty five words concern rerepetitpetit ionslonsp-repetit

figures of speech

section 76 features poetic elements beyond formal

repetition perhaps the single most important characteristicof the revelations poetry is the use of figurative language

the intentional departure from the normal orderconstruction or meaning of words to gain strength and

freshness of expression to create a pictorial effect to

describe by analogy or to discover and illustratesimilarities in otherwise dissimilar things holman and

harmonhannon 202 the poetic texture of section 76 is enriched by

figures of speech ranging from antithesis to apostrophe from

hyperbole to irony from metaphor to personificationmost common in the doctrine and covenants as in the

bible are similes and metaphors forms of comparison which

establish a correspondence between two phenomena

securing an effect on one level and asking us to transferthat meaning to another level ryken 166 A simile is an

explicit comparison of two objects which often uses the words

like or as to suggest that comparison A metaphor on

the other hand is an implicit comparison of two objects a

more direct assertion that one thing is another similes

thus tend to refer to a single characteristic common to the

objects described while metaphors are likelier to touch upon

multiple characteristics shared

metaphors and similes like other figures of speech

permit poets to invite reader participation placing the

82

in

burden of discovery and connection on the readers thereby

making them active rather than passive contributerscontributors to the

reading process

because metaphor and simile are distinctive ways of

speaking they achieve freshness of expression and

overcome the clicheclich6 effect of ordinary discoursemetaphor and simile possess arresting strangeness

that both captures a readers initial attention and

makes a statement memorable they also have

another builtinbuilt tendencyin that accords well with a

lyric poets intention they force a reader to

ponder or meditate on a statement they contain a

retarding element that resists immediateassimilation ryken 168

the heavy reliance on figurative language in section 76

reveals much about the intentions of the author given the

newness of this revelations message even to the prophet and

rigdon and the subsequent difficulty many of the saints had

in understanding and accepting it the extensive use of

metaphor and simile in the section with the tendency of

those figures of speech to force a reader to ponder or

meditate on a statement may have helped readers assimilatethe doctrine of multiple heavens

and it was a challenge to assimilate robert woodford

notes that section 76 while taken at face value today was a

83

i m m e d i a t e

departure from the common thought in josephs day and so

revolutionary to the accepted christian concept of life afterdeath that many members of the church were hesitant or even

opposed to accept this vision as truth 929 in his

historical development of the doctrine and covenants

woodford provides verification of this struggle among church

members even such stalwartsstal aswarts brigham young after all my

traditions were such that when the vision came first to me

it was so directly contrary and opposed to my former

education I1 said wait a little I1 did not reject it but I1

could not understand it 929

we can catch a glimpse of the difficulty in absorbing

this shockingly new perspective of the heavens from philo

dibbles picture of the expression on sidney rigdons face as

he heard the news the first time joseph sat firmly and

calmly all the time in the midst of a magnificent glory but

sidney sat limp and pale apparently as limber as a rag

observing which joseph remarked smilingly sidney is not

as used to it as I1 am woodford 927

the use of figurative language in section 76 may have

helped and may still be helping readers become used to itin the prophets terms metaphor and simile in thisrevelation is effective in bringing the heavens closer to

earth within the mental grasp of readers these figures of

speech may help to reduce interference between divinecommunication and mortal reception to make the unimaginable

imaginable the unfathomable fathomable george caird

84

observes that comparison is one of our most valuable sources

of knowledge the main road leading from the known to theunknown it comprises almost all the language of

theology 144

section 76s numerous similes are almost exclusivelycomparisons among the kingdoms themselves or comparisons to

astronomical objects

and the glory of the celestial is one even as the

glory of the sun is one and the glory of the

terrestrial is one even as the glory of the moon

is one and the glory of the telestial is one

even as the glory of the stars is one for as one

star differs from another star in glory even so

differs one from another in glory in the telestialworld vv 96896

it

8

is interesting to compare verses 71 and 78 which

describe the terrestrial kingdom and verse 81 which

describes the telestial kingdom to verse 70 these are they

whose bodies are celestial whose glory is that of the sun

even the glory of god the highest of all whose glory thesun of the firmament is written of as being typical each

of the earlier verses uses a simile to compare their gloriesto their respective astronomical objects but verse 70 which

describes the celestial kingdom employs a metaphor whose

glory is that of the sun in addition to a simile the

85

is

is

ultimacy of things celestial is further suggested poeticallyin that the celestial is the only comparison where there may

be some potential word play on sun as in son also the

glory of god

the similes in this revelation while repetitive are

still highly successful as telling and memorable as paulssimiles were to the corinthians these comparisons make the

most of familiarity and accessibility consistency and

orderliness simplicity and beauty the comparisons are

constantly present able to be brought immediately to mind atany time day or night all the reader has to do is look

upward into a clear sky all objects used in the comparison

are unmistakably related as heavenly orbsarbs yet they are

distinct in their radiance testifying of an establishedpattern or order designed by a intelligent creator

doctrine and covenants adaptations of figures of

speech

other figures of speech are more original to section 76

notice for example the unique use of a kind of synesthesia

in verse 19 with its imaginative application of the sense of

touch to the function of thought

and while we meditated upon these things the lordtouched the eyes of our understandings and they

86

were opened and the glory of the lord shone round

about

the metaphor in this passage works beautifully on a

number of levels first the touch suggests a gesture of

love the image of physical contact reinforcing the intimacy

of the lords spiritual closeness second that the lordtouched their eyes intimates that he had to reach out tothem extend his arms hands and fingers toward joseph and

sidney finally this image of intimate closeness recallsthe historical jesus by mirroring the manner in which jesus

healed the blind during his mortal ministry when the two

blind men begged of jesus lord that our eyes may be

opened jesus very much as in this situation had

compassion on them and touched their eyes and immediately

their eyes received sight and they followed him matthew

203242032 thus4 the entire episode works as a buried metaphor

suggesting a curative eye opening for those to whom the

vision is given and for us for whom it is given like the

entire revelation of which it is a part this synestheticmoment offers us the gift of seeing

As effective as this metaphor is the metaphoric

illumination of section 76 may be at its best not so much in

creating new images as in enlivening old ones observe for

example how the revelation handles the ancient symbol of

satan as serpent

87

and while we were yet in the spirit the lordcommanded us that we should write the vision forwe beheld satan that old serpent even the devilwho rebelled against god and sought to take thekingdom of our god and his christ v 28

satan imaged as serpent is so familiar a metaphor as toapproach scriptural cliche here the author plays upon thatfamiliarity by pushing it to an extreme which renews theimage for us satan in section 76 is an old serpent one

who has been around a long time longer than we would have

liked in addition to refreshing the numerous associationsbuilt up scripturally between a serpent and the devil the

added old connotes a devil who is frighteningly wise

through long experience threateningly imposing old snakes

get dangerously huge and very very tiring to us an old

story we have heard too many times this image is not newnevinewinewl

revelation 129 also has an old serpent called the devil

and satan which deceivethdeceive the whole world but in thispoetic context the image is powerfully renewing

that kind of renewing of symbolic cliche is frequent in

section 76 vessels as an image of people is a common

biblical metaphor but the slant it receives in the doctrineand covenants tends to enliven the image to revive itsoriginal energy

88

th

for they are vessels of wrath doomed to suffer the

wrath of god with the devil and his angels in

eternity v 33

A vessel is a hollow container whose sole function is to be

filled the awful thing about this doctrine and covenants

vessel image is that it conveys not only a sense of theongoing interminable wrath of the sons of perdition but thatof the lord filled to the brim with their own anger they

will find little comfort in discovering their personal wrath

has brought down upon them the wrath of god severalpassages in the bible use the word vessel to describepeople collectively and individually as easily broken or

destroyed psalms 3112 jeremiah 1911 revelation 227the closest parallel verse is romans 922 what if god

willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known

endured with much longsufferinglong thesuffering vessels of wrath fittedto destruction all that accumulated poetic wrath in such

fragile vessels suggests for the sons of perdition a very

precarious position in the eternitiessection 76 makes equally imaginative use of other

figures of speech observe how deftly for example section76 uses what may be the hoariesthoarsesthoa ofriest poetic devicesapostrophe verse 1 is a clear instance of the apostrophic

mode speaking to someone or something absent invisible or

not ordinarily spoken to an oratorical stance none too

popular among us modern readers hear 0 ye heavens and

89

in

give ear 0 earth and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof for

the lord is god and beside him there is no savior but

the doctrine and covenants energizes this figure of speech by

turning it directly on its head in section 76 that absent

audience is present though the form is apostrophic the

statement is literalthat such multivalent readings of doctrine and covenants

metaphor are implicit in the text and not merely read in by

modern readers is made clear by another section 76 poem

wherefore he saves all except them they shall go

away into everlasting punishment which Is endlesspunishment which Is eternal punishment to reign

with the devil and his angels in eternity where

their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched

which is their torment v 44

by revelation the lord himself interprets the metaphor

presented here and in verse 105 stating in section 19 thatthe central terms endless and eternal have sufferedmisinterpretation the lord declares I1 will explain unto

you this mystery for behold I1 am endless and the

punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment

for endless is my name wherefore eternal punishment isgods punishment endless punishment is gods punishment

vv 8 101210 what12 was originally punishment described in

terms of time is now described in terms of the giver of the

90

punishment the metaphor was permitted to operate that itmight work upon the hearts of the children of men v 7

clearly for sons of perdition gods punishment will seem

very long indeed

understatement and overstatement

As strong as these poetic images are in isolation they

are stronger in the context of section 76 often an image or

set of images gets repeated with accumulating force in a

crescendo of metaphor

these are they who are not valiant in the testimony

of jesus wherefore they obtain not the crown over

the kingdom of our god v 79

A crown is not in itself a particularly forceful image itsassociations with coronation are so commonplace as to be

banal nor does this image force itself upon ourimaginations this metonomymetonymymet withonomy its technique of

substituting an associated word works by way of hint almost

by misdirection the image is quietly understated but the

decibel level of images of kingliness is very loud indeed by

the time section 76 has added another crown in verse 108

thrones in verses 21 92 93 108 and 110 and explicitmention of kingdom in verses 7 28 79 107 and 114

91

in

that understatement accumulating to persuasive force istypical of the rhetorical strategy of section 76 hyperbole

as ryken points out appears frequently in biblicalstatements 177 section 76 by contrast seldom indulges

in hyperbole perhaps only in the lake of fire and

brimstone of verse 36 and the innumerable of verses 67

and 109 and the restraint of exaggeration in even these

instances is readily apparent in that in both cases

literality rather than symbolism could be argued the

literary style of the doctrine and covenants is exemplified

by section 76 its poetic richness is a little like teddy

roosevelts presidential style it speaks softly and carriesa big message

92

chapter 3

THE POETIC VERSION OF SECTION 76

overview

this final chapter will analyze ways section 76s poetic

dimensions are illuminated by the vision a poetic version

of section 76 attributed to the prophet joseph smith itwill include a line by line comparison of the scriptural and

poetic versions with an emphasis on the identification of

textual differences between the two since much of the

poetic version of section 76 quotes the revelation verbatim

and the arrangement of ideas is nearly identical in both

versions this chapter will attempt to determine to what

extent the poem parallels the revelation it will alsoexamine variations in content between the two textsexploring whatever literary implications those differencesmay suggest since the poetic version so closely parallelsthe revelation comparing the two may reveal insights intothe poetry of section 76

vade mecum

in the fall of 1842 joseph smith went into hiding to

avoid arrest as a purported accessory in the attempted murder

of former missouri governor lilburn boggs under the

93

protection of newly elected illinois governor thomas ford

the prophet was eventually released from the custody of the

circuit court of the united states district of illinois by

judge nathaniel pope because of a faulty requisition and

warrant the prophet returned to nauvoo in january 1843 As

part of the city festivities celebrating his return williamW phelps who was serving as a clerk for joseph smith

presented the prophet with his poem vade mecum

go with me will you go to the saints that have

died

to the next better world where the righteous

residewhere the angels and spirits in harmony be

in the joys of a vast paradise go with me

go with me where the truth and the virtues prevail

where the union is one and the years never failnot a heart can conceive nor a natralfatral eye see

what the lord has epardpreparedpr for the justgo with me

go with me where there is no destruction or war

neither tyrants or slandrers or nations ajarwhere the system is perfect and happiness freeand the life is eternal with god go with me

94

chapter 3

THE POETIC VERSION OF SECTION 76

overview

this final chapter will analyze ways section 76s poetic

dimensions are illuminated by the vision a poetic version

of section 76 attributed to the prophet joseph smith itwill include a line by line comparison of the scriptural and

poetic versions with an emphasis on the identification of

textual differences between the two since much of the

poetic version of section 76 quotes the revelation verbatim

and the arrangement of ideas is nearly identical in both

versions this chapter will attempt to determine to what

extent the poem parallels the revelation it will alsoexamine variations in content between the two textsexploring whatever literary implications those differencesmay suggest since the poetic version so closely parallelsthe revelation comparing the two may reveal insights intothe poetry of section 76

vade mecummecunt

in the fall of 1842 joseph smith went into hiding to

avoid arrest as a purported accessory in the attempted murder

of former missouri governor lilburn boggs under the

95

protection of newly elected illinois governor thomas ford

the prophet was eventually released from the custody of the

circuit court of the united states district of illinois by

judge nathaniel pope because of a faulty requisition aridandarld

warrant the prophet returned to nauvoo in january 1843 As

part of the city festivities celebrating his return williamWilliEW phelps who was serving as a clerk for joseph smith

presented the prophet with his poem vade mecum

go with me will you go to the saints that have

died

to the next better world where the righteous

residewhere the angels and spirits in harmony be

in the joys of a vast paradise go with me

go with me where the truth and the virtues prevail

where the union is one and the years never failnot a heart can conceive nor a natralfatral eye see

what the lord has prepardepardpreparepr for the justgo with me

go with me where there is no destruction or war

neither tyrants or slandrers or nations ajarwhere the system is perfect and happiness free

and the life is eternal with god go with me

96

is

tm

go with me will you go to the mansions above

where the bliss and the knowledge

the light and the love

and the glory of god do eternally be

death the wages of sin is not there go with me

phelpss poem whose latin title translates go withme is poetically interesting its prosody is competent

the poems four quatrain structure immediately stresses order

and lalanceralanceoa aslance does the consistency of its anapesticanapaestic

tetrameter metrics four quatrainsqua oftrains four lines four feetto the line that orderliness is emphasized by theregularity of the rhymed couplets and by the framing

repetition of go with me at the beginning and end of every

stanza a reiteration that focuses the entire poem on

phelpss lyric theme longing for the prophets accompaniment

to heaven

phelpss poem echoes section 76 its ideas stronglyparallel the revelation the parallels become explicit in at

least two places the phrase years never fail comes

directly from verse four of the revelation from eternity to

eternity he is the same and his years never fallfailfali and the

phrase nor a natralfatral eye see resembles verse ten yea

even those things which eye has not seen

go with me is dated january 1843 one month shy of the

tenth anniversary of the reception of section 76 thefebruary 1 1843 issue of times and seasons the churchs

97

official publication at the time printed phelpss poem under

the heading from W W phelps to joseph smith the prophet

below phelpss poem is a response in the form of anothermuch lengthier poem whose heading reads the answer to W

W phelps esq this poem is entitled in direct referenceto section 76 A vision

below the 312 line poem appears the name joseph smith

and its date of composition is given only as february 1843

even though the papers date is february 1 1843 theprophets entry in history of the church suggests an earliercomposition date in reply to W W phelpss vade mecum orgo with me of 20th of january last I1 dictated an answer

5288 richard N holzapfel in a recent articleconcerning the poem notes that this date was chosen as the

day of composition and is the same day phelps gave

joseph his poem 160 these dates leave a gap of twelve or

thirteen days between the reception of phelpss poem and the

printing of the prophets response whether the poem was

completed or signed the same day the paper was printed or

the paper was simply antedated is virtually impossible to

determine these details are important however as there issome question concerning the authorship of this poem in

addition to the prophet another likely candidate is williamW phelps

in the prophets favor are four factors his name isattached to the poem and his entry in history of the church

states that he dictated an answer a phrase which is open

98

to interpretation furthermore as holzapfel notes times

and seasons editor john taylor seems to accept joseph smith

as the author judging from his introduction to the poem

and the first line of the eleventh stanza employs the firstperson singular pronoun form I1 joseph the prophet 142

as do other lineson the other hand phelps wrote the catalyst poem

dedicated to the prophet in a nearly identical form he was

in nauvoo at the time A vision was written serving as the

prophets clerk As such phelps wrote numerous essays

concerning church doctrine and even gathered and prepared

the prophets revelations for publication as the doctrine and

covenants van orden 85 phelpss calling in the church as

stated in sections 55 57 67 and 70 had to do with printingchurch materials writing church books and publishing thebook of commandments he began writing a history of thechurch in 1842 and continued writing under the direction of

willard richards through 1844 van orden 86786 and7 by the

time the poem was written phelps was an accomplished poet

having written dozens of poems and hymns

richard cracroft and neal lambert in their book A

believing people literature of the latter day saints assert

that phelps is the likely author based on close textualcomparisons but offer no evidence 184 perhaps a more

plausible explanation however is that the two collaboratedon the poem with joseph smith providing the raw materialand william phelps polishing it into poetic form in this

99

100loo

mainmaln

way the two could take advantage of each others strengths

it was customary for the prophet to request the assistance of

others in the production of written materials as holzapfelobserves

joseph often depended upon others to produce

material under his direction at one time he may

have simply asked someone to compose an item forhim at another time he may have given someone themainmaln ideas in other instances he was involved

heavily in the final literary creation many

of the editorials in the timestunes and seasons were not

josephs own words the prophet indicatedthat only those editorials having my signaturewere those for which he was personally responsible

142

ideally a thorough word analysis such as a wordprintwoodprintword

study

printwould likely provide more conclusive data A vision

could be compared to phelpss other poetic works forexample to look for patterns in form diction syntax

style or grammar comparing the poem to the prophets prose

writings would be ineffective of course because of the

dramatic differences in form between prose and poetry the

prophets revelation concerning the degrees of glory is the

only text to which the poem can be compared

101loi

the other poem

joseph smith apparently wrote poetry on one otheroccasion cracroft and lambert write that A vision is theonly extant poem written by the prophet 184 but dean C

jessee in his work the personal writings of joseph smithsmiths

includes a short poem penned in joseph smiths handwriting

to a young woman named barbara matilda who had along with

her parents met the prophet in nauvoo during this visitwhile staying in the mansion house between may 8 and 13

1844 twenty two year old barbara collected autographs

from prominent nauvoo citizens among those who wrote in her

book were william W phelps and joseph smith 5756575

phelps

6

poem is presented first followed by the

prophets

to miss barbaralbarbara matilda neff

two things will beautify a youth

that is let virtue decorate the truthand so you know every little helps

yours W W phelps

occasion

is

the truth and virtue both are good

when rightly understood

but charity is better miss

that takes us home to blissand so forthwithremember joseph smith

on page 577 of his text jessee includes a photograph of thepage on which these lines appear both the handwriting and

the signatures appear to be those of the respective authors

these two short poems were written more than a year after the

publication of go with me and A vision and there aresome interesting similarities concerning the composition of

the two pairs of poems in both cases phelps initiates thesequence and the prophet follows suit the poems aresimilar in form and content for example the poems here

consist of rhyming couplets which extol the virtues of young

womanhood and employ the iamb as the metrical foot although

in varying numbers of feet per line go with me and A

vision also use the same meter and are similar in theme and

content unfortunately neither of matildas poems is long

enough to make further comparisons to A vision

102

comparison of A vision and section 76

traditionally the poetic version of section 76 has been

used primarily to examine and interpret the doctrine of the

revelation but the poem may prove valuable for reasons

other than doctrinal interpretation the followingcomparison of A vision reproduced here as it originallyappeared in times and seasons with the revelation itselfwill focus on textual differences between the scriptural and

poetic versions of section 76 emphasizing textual deletions

additions or rearrangements variations in grammar

spelling punctuation or mechanics will not be highlighted

while it could be argued that editorial changes such as these

have as much impact on meaning as the textual changes they

are too numerous to comment on within the scope of thisproject differences in word usage are set off in boldfacetype numbers in the left margin correspond to versificationin section 76 lines from the poem that correspond to the

revelation appear below the verses and are italicized to

aid in the comparison verses from the revelation are

occasionally combined to fit the lines of poem and vice

versa

A brief commentary noting interesting or significantvariations is offered following the linear comparison

again emphasis is placed only on the textual differencesnuances in meaning and doctrinal interpretations are largely

avoided here

103

104

1 will go I1 will go to the homebornehormehomme of the saintswhere the virtues the value and life the reward

but before I1 return to my former estateI1 must fulfilfulfill the mission I1 had from the lord

1 HEAR 0 ye heavens and give ear 0 earth and rejoice ye

inhabitants thereof for the lord is god and beside him

there is no savior

wherefore hear 0 ye heavens and give ear 0 ye earthand rejoice ye inhabitants truly again

for the lord he is god and his life never ends

and besides him there neer was a saviour of men

2 great is his wisdom marvelous are his ways and the

extent of his doings none can find out

his ways are a wonder his wisdom is great

the extent of his doings theres none can unveil

3 his purposes fail not neither are there any who can

stay his hand

his purposes fail not

4 from eternity to eternity he is the same and his years

never fail

from age unto age

he still is the same and his years never fail

his throne is the heavens hisbisbighig lifetimelife istime allof eternity now and eternity then

his union is power and none stays hisbis handhandyhande

the alpha omega for ever amen

5 for thus saith the lord- i the lord am merciful and

gracious unto those who fear me and delight to honor thosewho serve me in righteousnessrighteousnes and in truth unto the end

for thus saith the lord in the spirit of truthI1 am merciful gracious and good unto those

that fear me and live for the life thatsthatfthalf s to come

my delight is to honor the saints with repose

that serve me in righteousness true to the end

6 great shall be their reward and eternal shall be theirglory

eternals their glory and great their reward

1

105

righteousnes s

mystriesmysteries

7 and to them will I1 reveal all mysteries yea all thehidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old and forages to come will I1 make known unto them the good pleasureof my will concerning all things pertaining to my

kingdom

ill surely reveal all my mystriesmysteriesmys totries themthein

the great hidden mysta hesnes in my kingdom stordstored

from the council in kolobkolobycolobydolob to time on the earthand for ages to come unto them will I1 show

my pleasure & will what the kingdom will do

8 yealea even the wonders of eternity shall they know and

things to come will I1 show them even the things of many

generations

eternitys wonders they truly shall know

great things of the future ill show unto them

reateayeateeree things of the vast generations to rise

9 and their wisdom shall be great and their understanding

reach to heaven and before them the wisdom of the wise

shall perish and the understanding of the prudent shallcome to naught

106

mys tries

1I joseph the prophet in spirit beheld

for their wisdom and glory shall be very greatand their pure understanding extend to the skies

and before them the wisdom of wise men shall cease

and the nice understanding of prudent ones failfallfali

10 for by my spirit will I1 enlighten them and by my

power will I1 make known unto them the secrets of my willyea even those things which eye has not seen nor ear

heard nor yet entered into the heart of man

for the light of my spirit shall light mine electand the truth is so mighty twill ever prevail

and the secrets and plans of my will ill revealthe sanctified pleasures when earth is renewdreneldren

what

ewdthe eye hath not seen nor the ear hath yet heard

nor the heart of the natural man ever hath viewdviewed

11 we joseph smith jun and sidney rigdon being in

the spirit on the sixteenth day of february in theyear of our lord one thousand eight hundred andthirty two

107

12 by the power of the spirit our eyes were opened and

our understandings were enlightened so as to see and

understand the things of god

and the eyes of the inner man truly did see

eternity sketchdsketchy in a vision from god

13 even those things which were from the beginning

before the world was which were ordained of the fatherthrough his only begotten son who was in the bosom of

the father even from the beginning

of what was and now is and yet is to be

those things which the father ordained of old

before the world was or a system had run

through jesus the maker and savior of allthe only begotten messiah his son

14 of whom we bear record and the record which we bear isthe fulnessfalness of the gospel of jesus christ who is the son

whom we saw and with whom we conversed in the heavenly

vision

of whom I1 bear record as all prophets have

and the record I1 bear is the fulnessfalnessfulness yea even

the truth of the gospel of jesus the christwith whom I1 conversdconversaconver insd the vision of heavnhearn

108

is

109log

15 for while we were doing the work of translation which

the lord had appointed unto us we came to the twenty ninthverse of the fifth chapter of john which was given unto us

as follows

for while in the act of translating his word

which the lord in his grace had appointed to me

I1 came to the gospel recorded by john

chapter fifth and the twenty ninth verse which youllsee

which was given as follows

16 speaking of the resurrection of the dead concerning

those who shall hear the voice of the son of man

speaking of the resurrection of the dead

concerning those who shall hear the voice of

the son of man

17 and shall come forth they who have done good in the

resurrection of the just and they who have done evil in the

resurrection of the unjust

and shall come forththey who have done good in the resurrectionof the just

110llolio

and they who have done evil in the resurrec-

tion of the unjust

18 nowmow this caused us to marvel for it was given unto

us of the spirit

I1 marvelmarveldbarveldmar atveldveid these resurrections indeed

for it came unto me by the spirit direct

19 and while we meditated upon these things the lordtouched the eyes of our understanding and they wereopened and the glory of the lord shone round about

and while I1 did meditate what it all meant

the lord touchdtoucha the eyes of my own intellect

hosanna for ever they opendolend anon

and the glory of god shone around where I1 was

20 and we beheld the glory of the son on the right hand

of the father and received of his fulnessfalnessful

and

ness

there was the son at the fathers right hand

in a fulnessfalness of glory and holy applause

in

d

21 and saw the holy angels and them who are sanctifiedbefore his throne worshippingshippingwor god and the lamb who

worship him forever and ever

I1 beheld round the throne holy angels and hostsand sanctified beings from worlds that have been

in holiness worshippingshippingwor god and the lamb

forever and ever amen and amen

22 and now after the many testimonies which have been

given of him this is the testimony last of all which we

give of him that he lives

and now after all of the proofs made of him

by witnesses truly by whom he was known

this is mine last of all that he lives yea he lives

23 for we saw him even on the right hand of god and we

heard the voice bearing record that he is the only begotten

of the father

and sits at the right hand of god on his throne

and I1 heard a great voice bearing record from heavnhearnhes the saviour and only begotten of god

is

Godigodl fiedfled

24 that by him and through him and of him the worlds are

and were created and the inhabitants thereof are begottensons and daughters unto god

by him of him and through him the worlds were all made

even all that career in the heavens so broad

whose inhabitants too from the first to the lastare savddavd by the very same saviour of ours

and of course are begotten gods daughters and sons

by the very same truths and the very same powrpowr

25 and this we saw also and bear record that an angel of

god who was in authority in the presence of god who

rebelled against the only begotten son whom the fatherloved and who was in the bosom of the father was

thrust down from the presence of god and the son

and I1 saw and bear record of warfare in heavnhearnfor an angel of light in authority great

rebelldbelldrebellaRe against jesus and sought for his powr

but was thrust down to woe from his godifiedcodifiedmodified state

26 and was called perdition for the heavens wept over

him he was lucifer a son of the morning

112

in

and the heavens all wept and the tears dropddrood like dew

that lucifer son of the morning had fell

27 and we beheld and lo10 he is fallen is fallen even

a son of the morning

reateayea is fallen is falln and become oh alasthe son of perdition the devil of hell

28 and while we were yet in the spirit the lord commanded

us that we should write the vision for we beheld satan

that old serpent even the devil who rebelled againstgod and sought to take the kingdom of our god and his

christ

and while I1 was yet in the spirit of truththe commandment was write ye the vision all out

for satan old serpent

29 wherefore he mabethmaketh war with the saints of god and

encompassethencompass themeth round about

the devils for war

and yet will encompass the saints round about

113

in

30 and we saw a vision of the sufferings of those withwhom he made war and overcame for thus came the voice

of the lord unto us

and I1 saw too the suffringsuf andfring mismls ry of thoseovercome by the devil in warfare and fight

in hellfirehell andfire vengeance the doom of the damnddamand

for the lord said the vision is further so write

31 thus saith the lord concerning all those who know my

power and have been made partakerspar thereoftakers and sufferedthemselves through the power of the devil to be overcome

and to deny the truth and defy my power

for thus saith the lord now concerning all those

who know of my power and partake of the same

and suffer themselves that they be overcome

by the power of satan despising my name

defying my power and denying the truth

32 they are they who are the sons of perdition of whom I1

say that it had been better for them never to have been

born

114

misrysiffring masry

115lib

they are they of the world or of men most forlornthe sons of perdition of whom ah I1 say

T were better for them had they never been born

33 for they are vessels of wrath doomed to suffer thewrath of god with the devil and his angels in eternity

theyre the vessels of wrath and dishonourdis tohonour god

doomddooma to suffer his wrath in the regions of woe

through all the terrific night of eternitys round

with the devil and all of his angels below

34 concerning whom I1 have said there is no forgiveness in

this world nor in the world to come

of whom it is said no forgiveness is givngianin this world alas nor the world thats to come

35 having denied the holy spirit after having received itand having denied the only begotten of the father having

crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame

for they have denyddemyd the spirit of god

after having receivdreceivedrece itivd and misrysmis theirrys doom

and denying the only begotten of god

and crucify him to themselves as they do

and openly put him to shame in their fleshfleshy

by gospel they cannot repentance renew

36 these are they who shall go away into the lake of fireand brimstone with the devil and his angels

they are they who must go to the great lake of firewhich burneth with brimstone yet never consumes

and dwell with the devil and angels of his

while eternity goes and eternity comes

37 and the only ones on whom the second death shallhave any power

these are they who must groan through the great second

death

38 yea verily the only ones who shall not be redeemed

in the due time of the lord after the sufferings of hiswrath

and are not redeemed in the time of the lord

39 for all the rest shall be brought forth by the

resurrection of the dead through the triumph and the

glory of the lamb who was slain who was in the bosom

of the father before the worlds were made

i i b

while all the rest are through the triumph of christmade partakerspar oftakers grace by the power of his word

the mystrymystfrymastry of godliness truly is greatthe past and the present and what is to be

40 and this is the gospel the glad tidings which the voice

out of the heavens bore record unto us

and this is the gospel glad tidings to allwhich the voice from the heavens bore record to me

4146 that he came into the world even jesus to be

crucified for the world and to bear the sins of theworld and to sanctify the world and to cleanse it from

all unrighteousness that through him all might be saved

whom the father had put into his power and made by him

who glorifies the father and saves all the works of hishands except those sons of perdition who deny the son

after the father has revealed him wherefore he saves

all except them they shall go away into everlastingpunishment which is endless punishment which iseternal punishment to reign with the devil and his angels

in eternity where their worm dieth not and the fire is not

quenched which is their torment and the end thereofneither the place thereof nor their torment no man

knows neither was it revealed neither is neither will

117

41 46

be revealed unto man except to them who are made partakerspar

thereoftakers

that he came to the world in the middle of time

to lay down his life for his friends and his foes

and bear away sin as a mission of love

and sanctify earth for a blessed repose

tis decreed that hell save all the work of his hands

and sanctify them by his own precious blood

and purify earth for the sabbath of restby the agent of fire as it was by the flood

the savior will save all hisbis father did giveeven all that he gave in the regions abroad

save the sons of perdition theyre lost ever lostand can never return to the presence of god

they are they who must reign with the devil in hellin eternity now and eternity then

where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenchquenchdquenched d

and the punishment still is eternal amen

and which is the torment apostates receive

but the end or the place where the torment began

save to them who are made to partake of the same

was never nor will be revealed unto man

118

is

47 nevertheless I1 the lord show it by vision untomany but straightway shut it up again

yet god by a vision shows a glimpse of their fateand straightway he closes the scene that was shown

48 wherefore the end the width the height the depth

and the misery thereof they understand not neither any

man except those who are ordained unto thiscondemnation

so the width or the depth or the misery thereofsave to those that partake is forever unknown

49 and we heard the voice saying write the vision for

lo10 this is the end of the vision of the sufferings of theungodly

and while I1 was pondering the vision was closedand the voice said to me write the vision for lo10

TIS the end of the scene of the sufferings of those

nhowho remain filthy still in their anguish and woe

50 and again we bear record for we saw and heard and

this is the testimony of the gospel of christ concerning

them who shall come forth in the resurrection of thejust

i 19

beliebellebeilevd

and again I1 bear record of heavenly thingswhere virtues the value above all that is pricdpricaof the truth of the gospel concerning the justthat rise in the first resurrection of christ

51 they are they who received the testimony of jesusand believed on his name and were baptized after themanner of his burial being buried in the water in hisname and this according to the commandment which he

has given

who receivdreceivdyreceived and believdbelievdybelieved and repentedrepeated likewiseand then were baptizdbaptizedbapti aszd a man always was

who askdasad and receivdreceivedrece aivd remission of sinand honored the kingdom by keeping its laws

being buried in waterywater as jesus had been

52 that by keeping the commandments they might be washed

and cleansed from all their sins and receive the holy

spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who isordained and sealed unto this power

and keeping the whole of his holy commands

they received the gift of the spirit of truthby the ordinance truly of laying on hands

120

in

i s

receivd

izi121

53 and who overcome by faith and are sealed by the holy

spirit of promise which the father sheds forth upon allthose who are jusejust and true

for these overcome by their faithfalth and their works

being tried in their lifetimelife astime purified gold

and sealdsea2dseard by the spirit of promise to lifeby men called of god as was aaron of old

54 and they are they who are the church of the firstbornFirst

they

born

are they of the church of the firstbornfirst ofborn god

55 they are they into whose hands the father has given

all things

and unto whose hands behe committethcommit allteth things

for they hold the keys of the kingdom of heavnhearn

56 they are they who are priests and kings who have

received of his fulnessfalnessful andness of his glory

and reign with the savior as priests and as kings

57 and are priests of the most high after the order of

melchizedek which was after the order of enoch which

was after the order of the only begotten son

j useust

1

122izz

theyre priescspriests of chethedhe order of melchisedekmelchisedecMelchi

likesedek

jesus from whom is this highest reward

receiving a fulnessfalness of glory and light

58 wherefore as it is written they are gods even thesons of god-

as written theyre gods even sons of the lord

59 wherefore all things are theirs whether life ordeath or things present or things to come all are theirsand they are christs and christ is gods

so all things are theirs yea of life or of deathyea whether things now or to come all are theirsand they are the saviors and he is the lords

60 and they shall overcome all things

having overcome all as eternitys heirs

61 wherefore let no man glory in man but rather lethim glory in god who shall subdue all enemies under his

feet

tis wisdom that man never glory in man

but give god the glory for all that he hath

is

in

for the righteous will walk in the presence of god

while the wicked are trod under foot in his wrath

62 these shall dwell in the presence of god and his christforever and ever

yearea the righteous shall dwell in the presence of god

and of jesus forever from earths second birth

63 these are they whom he shall bring with him when he

shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earthover his people

for when he comes down in the splendor of heavnhearnall these hell bring with him to reign on the earth

646564 these65 are they who shall have part in the firstresurrection these are they who shall come forth in

the resurrection of the just

these are they that arise in their bodies of fleshwhen the trump of the first resurrection shall sound

6667 these are they who are come unto mount zion and

unto the city of the living god the heavenly place the

holiesthollest of all these are they who have come to an

66 67

innumerable company of angels to the general assembly and

church of enoch and of the firstbornFirst

these

born

are they that come up to mount zion in lifewhere the blessings and gifts of the spirit abound

these are they that have come to the heavenly place

to the numberless courses of angels above

to the city of god een the holiesthollest of alland the home of the blessed the fountain of love

to the church of old enoch and of the firstbornfirstand

born

genral assembly of the ancient renowndrenownedrenow

68

nd

these are they whose names are written in heaven

where god and christ are the judge of all

whose names are all kept in the archives of heavnhearnAs chosen and faithful and fit to be crowndbrowndcrow

69

nd

these are they who are just men made perfect through

jesus the mediator of the new covenant who wrought out

this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own

blood

these are they that are perfect through jesus own blood

124

thtaht

70 these are they whose bodies are celestial whose

glory is that of the sun even the glory of god thehighest of all whose glory the sun of the firmament iswritten of as being typical

whose bodies celestialcelest arelallaiial mentiondmentionsmenti byond paul

where the sun is the typical glory thereofand god and his christchristy are the true judge of all

71 and again we saw the terrestrial world and behold

and lo10 these are they who are of the terrestrialwhose glory differs from that of the church of thefirstbornFirst whoborn have received the fulnessfalness of the fathereven as that of the moon differs from the sun in thefirmament

again I1 beheld the terrestrial world

in the order and glory of jesusy go on

twas not as the church of the firstbornfirst ofborn god

but shone in its place as the moon to the sun

72 behold these are they who died without law

behold these are they that have died without law

rh heathen of ages that never had hope

and those of the region and shadow of death

the spirits in prison that light has brought up

125

jesus

73 and also they who are the spirits of men kept inprison whom the son visited and preached the gospel unto

them that they might be judged according to men in the

flesh

to spirits in prison the savior once preachdpreacheand taught them the gospel with powers afreshand then were the living baptizdbaptizedbapti forzd their dead

that they might be judgdjudged as if men in the flesh

748074 who80 received not the testimony of jesus in the

flesh but afterwards received it these are they who

are honorable men of the earth who were blinded by the

craftiness of men these are they who receive of hisglory but not of his fulnessfalnessful theseness are they who receiveof the presence of the son but not of the fulnessfalness of the

father wherefore they are bodies terrestrial and

not bodies celestial and differ in glory as the moon

differs from the sun these are they who are not

valiant in the testimony of jesus wherefore they

obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our god and now

this is the end of the vision which we saw of the

terrestrial that the lord commanded us to write whilewe were yet in the spirit

these are they that are honrablehonorablehon menrable of the earthwho were blinded and dupdduad by the cunning of men

i 2 b

receiveelve

they receivdreceivedrece notivd the truth of the savior at firstbut did when they heard it in prison again

not valiant for truth they obtaindobtains not the crown

but are of that glory thats typdtydd by the moon

they are they that come into the presence of christbut not to the fulnessfalness of god on his throne

818281 and82 again we saw the glory of the telestialwhich glory is that of the lesser even as the glory of

the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in

the firmament these are they who received not the gospel

of christ neither the testimony of jesus

again I1 beheld the telestial as thirdthe lesser or starry world next in its place

for the leaven must leaven three measures of meal

and every knee bow that is subject to grace

these are they that receivdreceivedrece notivd the gospel of christchristy

or evidence either that he ever was

As the stars are all diffrentdiffrientdif infrent glory and lightso differs the glory of these by the laws

83 these are they who deny not the holy spirit

127

heceireceiI1 ve

these are they that deny not the spirit of god

8485 these are they who are thrust down to hell theseare they who shall not be redeemed from the devil untilthe last resurrection until the lord even christ thelamb shall have finished his work

but are thrust down to hell with the devil for sinsAs hypocrites liars whoremongers and thievesand stay till the last resurrection begins

till the lamb shall have finishdfinishedfinis thehd work behe begun

shall have trodden the winepresswine inpress fury aloneand overcome all by the powr of his might

he conquers to conquer and save all his own

868886 these88 are they who receive not of his fulnessfalness in the

eternal world but of the holy spirit through theministration of the terrestrial and the terrestrial through

the ministration of the celestial and also the telestialreceive it of the administering of angels who areappointed to minister for them or who are appointed to

be ministering spirits for them for they shall be

heirs of salvation

these are they that receive not a fulnessfalness of lightfrom christ in eternitys world where they are

128

84 85

receive

the terrestrial sends them the comforter though

and ministringministeringmini angelsstring to happify thereand so the telestial is ministerdministered to

by ministers from the terrestrial one

As terrestrial is from the celestial throne

and the great greater greatest seems stars moon

and sun

89 and thus we saw in the heavenly vision the glory of

the telestial which surpasses all understanding

and thus I1 beheld in the vision of heavnhearnthe telestial glory dominion and blisssurpassing the great understanding of men

90 and no man knows it except him to whom god hasrevealed it

unknown save revealdrevealrevealsrev inealdeaid a world vain as this

91 and thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial which

excels in all things the glory of the telestial even inglory and in power and in might and in dominion

and lo10 I1 beheld the terrestrial too

which excels the telestial in glory and light

129

d

in splendour and knowledge and wisdom and joy

in blessings and graces dominion and might

92 and thus we saw the glory of the celestial which

excels in all things where god even the father reignsupon his throne forever and ever

I1 beheld the celestial in glory sublime

which is the most excellent kingdom that iswhere god een the father in harmony reignsalmighty supreme and eternal in bliss

9395 before whose throne all things bow in humble

reverence and give him glory forever and ever theywho dwell in his presence are the church of thefirstbornFirst andborn they see as they are seen and know as they

are known having received of his fulnessfalness and his grace

and he makes them equal in power and in might and indominion

where the church of the firstbornfirst inborn union resideand they see as theyre seen and they know as theyre known

being equal in power dominion and might

with a fulnessfalness of glory and grace round his throne

130

93 95

makes

in

96 and the glory of the celestial is one even as theglory of the sun is one

the glory celestial is one like the sun

97 and the glory of the terrestrial is one even as theglory of the moon is one

the glory terrestralterrestrialterr isestral one like the moon

98 and the glory of the telestial is one even as theglory of the stars is one for as one star differs from

another star in glory even so differs one from

another in glory in the telestial world

the glory telestial is one like the starsand all harmonizeharmona like the parts of a tune

As the stars are all different in lustre and sizeso the telestial region is mingled in blissfrom the least unto greatest and greatest to leastthe reward is exactly as promisdpromispromised in this

9910099 for100 these are they who are of paul and of apollos

and of cephas these are they who say they are some of

one and some of another some of christ and some ofjohn and some of moses and some of ellaseliaseilas and some of

esaias and some of isaiah and some of enoch

131

is

is

ze

esaiI1 as

these are they that came out for apollos and paul

for cephas and jesus in all kinds of hope

for enoch and moses and peter and john

for luther and calvin and even the pope

101 but received not the gospel neither the testimony of

jesus neither the prophets neither the everlastingcovenant

for they never received the gospel of christchristynor the prophetic spirit that came from the lordnor the covenant neither which jacob once had

they went their own way and they have their reward

102 last of all these all are they who will not be

gathered with the saints to be caught up unto the church

of the firstbornFirst andborn received into the cloud

by the order of god last of all these are they

that will not be gathergatherfdgatherdgathardgat withherd saints here belowbelowybelomy

to be caught up to jesus and meet in the cloud

in darkness they worshipworshiped dpd to darkness they go

103 these are they who are liars and sorcerers and

adulterers and whoremongers and whosoever loves and

makes a lie

132

worshippd

fd

these are they that are sinful the wicked at large

that glutted their passion by meanness or worth

all liars adulterers sorcrerssorcerers and proud

104 these are they who suffer the wrath of god on earth

and suffer as promisdpromise gods wrath on the earth

105108105 these108 are they who suffer the vengeance of eternalfire these are they who are cast down to hell and

suffer the wrath of almighty god until the fulnessfalness of

times when christ shall have subdued all enemies under

his feet and shall have perfected his work when he

shall deliver up the kingdom and present it unto the

father spotless saying I1 have overcome and have

trodden the winepresswine alonepress even the winepresswine ofpress the

fierceness of the wrath of almighty god then shallhe be crowned with the crown of his glory to sit on the

throne of his power to reign forever and ever

these are they that must suffer the vengeance of hell

till christ shall have trodden all enemies down

and perfected his work in the fulnessfalness of time

and is crowned on his throne with his glorious crown

109 but behold and lo10 we saw the glory and the

inhabitants of the telestial world that they were as

andproud

innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven or

as the sand upon the seashore

the vast multitude of the telestial world

As the stars of the skies or the sands of the sea

110 and heard the voice of the lord saying these allshall bow the knee and every tongue shall confess to him

who sits upon the throne forever and ever

the voice of jehovah echoddechod far and wide

evry tongue shall confess and they all bow the knee

111 112 for they shall be judged according to theirworks and every man shall receive according to his own

works his own dominion in the mansions which areprepared and they shall be servants of the most high

but where god and christ dwell they cannot come

worlds without end

evry man shall be judgdjudged by the works of his lifeand receive a reward in the mansions prepardepardpreparepr

for his judgments are just and his works never end

As his prophets and servants have always clarddeclaredde

113 119 this is the end of the vision which we saw

which we were commanded to write while we were yet in

134

in

I1 will go I1 will go with you brother farewell

the spirit but great and marvelous are the works of

the lord and the mysteries of his kingdom which he

showed unto us which surpass ailallali understanding in gloryand in might and in dominion which he commanded us we

should not write while we were yet in the spirit and

are not lawful for man to utter neither is man capable tomake them known for they are only to be seen and

understood by the power of the holy spirit which god

bestonsbestows on those who love him and purify themselves

before him to whom he grants this privilege of seeingand knowing for themselves that through the power and

manifestation of the spirit while in the flesh theymay be able to bear his presence in the world of

glory and to god and the lamb be glory and honorand dominion forever and ever amen

but the great things of god which he showdshawd unto me

unlawful to utter I1 dare not declarethey surpass all the wisdom and greatness of men

and are only seen as has paul where they are

I1 will go I1 will go while the secret of lifeIs blooming in heaven and blasting in hellIs leaving on earth and abudding in space

13 b

f or

evaluation of A vision

john taylor as editor of the times and seasons wrote

an introduction to A vision entitled ancient poetry he

compares it to poetry found in the old testament but in a

somewhat mixed review on the positive side he praises thepoem as both novel and interesting dignified and

exalted written in a style that exhibits a nativesimplicity a brilliance of thought and an originality of

composition 81 while he is generous in his praise of thepoem taylor does raise a couple of mild criticisms he

comments that in the poem the common landmarks of modern

poetry are entirely disregarded but cushions thathesitation between additional comments of praise

his other negative reaction to the poem is even more

qualified taylor discusses the poetry of ancient prophets

who paid little or no attention to the rules of poeticcomposition but whose poetry nevertheless excels because

they were moved by the holy ghost whose influence ensured a

a richness a dignity and a brilliancy of ideas and an

exuberance of thought that ran through all their productions

81 by extension taylor evaluates josephs poem

similarly it succeeds much more than it fails the poems

disregard for standard convention a relatively minor flaw

may not be a flaw at all in taylors estimation to the

person who has seen the glories of the eternal world the

dry forms and simple jingling of rhyme alone will seem

136

11

insipid 81 if the poem is as literarilylitera valuablerily as

taylor thought it to be comparison with its originalsection 76 of the doctrine and covenants could be

illuminating

contrary to taylors assessment however A visionadheres to many standard poetic conventions like phelpsspoetically successful go with me A vision is likewisearranged in quatrainsqua andtrains has a metrical foot pattern of

anapesticanapaestic tetrameter in the first line of the second

quatrain wherefore hear 0 ye heavens and give ear 0 ye

earth the stress falls on the words hear heavens

ear and earth the two verbs and the two nouns of the

line As a pair hear and heavens is alliterative thatis initial consonant sounds are the same the pair ear

and earth constitute assonance which occurs when initialvowel sounds are the same each pair of words is alsostrongly similar in spelling more importantly however the

structure and the syntax of this line combine to reiteratethe message of the prologue of the revelation

the rhyme scheme of A vision is A B C B throughout

that is only the second and fourth lines employ end rhyme a

slight variation from the scheme of go with me the

refrain go with me has been replaced with I1 will go

repeated six times twice in the beginning stanza and four

times in the concluding stanza and emphasizes the prophetswillingness to accompany phelps hence his answer

whereas phelpss poem echoes section 76 in only two places

137

A vision echoes the entire section often quoting itverbatim and while the content of go with me hints at the

doctrines presented in the revelation the prophets poem

recasts virtually every significant concept in section 76

larry dahl considers the prophets piece a poetic re-

phrasing of dacd&c 76 with some interpretive commentary 294

parallels between the two texts

the connections of A vision with section 76 extend

from the title through every line the poem runs intoseventy eight quatrainsqua excludingtrains the first and laststanzas a frame responding to phelpss poem leaves exactlyseventy six stanzas an intriguingly appropriate number even

if the revelation now known as section 76 was formerly known

as section 91 in the 1835 edition of the doctrine and

covenants

it is obvious that the poem relies a great deal on the

revelation the structure is the same the ordering of the

visions in the poem follows the same sequence found in the

revelation only minor deviations in arrangement are found

between the verses of the revelation and the lines of thepoem notably in vv 41641 647646 7488747 105810588 and8 1119111 and9

their corresponding stanzas

the poem and the revelation are nearly the same length

section 76 consists of approximately 2880 words while A

vision consists of approximately 2750 a difference of

138

in

in

isin

roughly 130 words including the introductory and concluding

stanzas however narrows the gap even more- to a mere 50

words of the words comprising the poem nearly 1300 of

them are found in the revelation either as individual words

standing alone or as phrases the poem then quotes the

revelation approximately 46 of the time

the extent of shared wording between the poem and the

revelation is striking nearly 100 phrases from therevelation appear in the poem the poetic version has some

of these phrases slightly rearranged but most of them are

identical and they are crucial phrases such centralstatements as

hear 0 ye heavens and give ear 0 earthhe is the same and his years never faileternalsexternalseter theirnals glory and great their reward

worshippingshippingwor god and the lamb for ever and ever

lucifer son of the morning is fallen is fallendefying my power and denying the truthwhich the voice of the heavens bore record

where the worm dieth not

and the fire is not quenched

the width the depth the misery thereofwho received and believed and were baptized

those hell bring with him to reign on the earth

to the church of enoch and of the first born

these are they who are perfect

139

is

through jesus own blood

behold these are they that died without law

that they might be judged men in the fleshthese are they are who are

honorable men of the earththese are they who received not

the gospel of christand they see as theyre seen

and know as theyre known

and suffer as promised gods wrath on the earththese are they who suffer the vengeance of helluntil christ shall have trodden all enemies down

crowned on his throne with his glorious crown

every tongue shall confess and all bow the knee

but the great things of god

which he showed unto us

this heavy dependence on the revelation for wording so

extensive as to qualify as plagiarism by modern standardssays something for the poetic nature of section 76 with

only minor adjustments these phrases have been made intolines of poetry many of them are inherently rhythmic even

prosodic on the principle that imitation is the highest

form of flattery the deliberate borrowing from the

revelation is convincing evidence that section 76 is poetic

apparently it was considered intrinsically poetic enough in

its original form to warrant joseph smiths andor W W

140

phelpss subsequent transformation of it into a poem with a

little alteration

differences between A vision and section 76

but there are differences between the two texts and the

differences can be illuminating for example there is in

the poem a disproportionate amount of material dedicated to

the first half the revelation the poem seems to emphasize

the most startling visions more than their comparatively

tamer counterparts of the 76 stanzas which directlyparallel the revelation 46 of them or 61 parallel the

first 50 of the revelation the remaining 30 stanzas or

39 parallel the last 50 of the revelation three fifthsof the poem therefore is dedicated to the visionsconcerning the son satan sons of perdition and the

celestial kingdom two fifths of the poem recounts the

visions of the terrestrial and telestial kingdoms thesummary and conclusion

besides that difference in structural emphasis there isone characteristic in the poetic version which is altogetherabsent from the scriptural version one which may lead some

to favor the style of the section over that of the poem the

poetic version employs numerous contractions contractionsare used in the poem for maintaining meter and rhythm and

they are one way the poet condenses text certain letters are

strategically removed to reduce the number of syllables

141

comprising the word in A vision many contractions are

used this way diffrentdiffrientdif eenfrent evry genral honrablehonorablehon

ministringministeringmini

rablemisriesmiseriesmisstring mystrybystrymyries neerstry suffringsuf thefring

omission of letters reduces the number of syllablescomprising the word insuring that the meter is maintained

but more often than not the poem contains contractionsthat seem unnecessary to conform to meter askdasad baptizdbaptizedbapti

conversdconversaconverzd

denyddemydsd dropddrood echoddechod finishdfinishedfinis gatherdeatherdgathdheavnhearn

herdjudgdjudged marveidmarveldlarveldmar obtaindobtainsveidveldveldveid preachdpreache quenchdquenched

rebelidrebelldbelldrebelinrebellareb touchdtouchaelid viewdviewed worshippdworshipedworship andpd about twenty

others functionally useless these contractions might have

been added for variety or consistency but they ultimatelydetract from the poems beauty rather than enhance it no

contractions are found in the revelation

there is a significant grammatical distinction between

the two versions the use of the personal pronoun in stanza11 the first person plural form we used exclusively in the

revelation becomes the first person singular form I1 in thepoem this alteration in which the composer seemingly

disregards rigdons participation in the vision and becomes

the sole receiver continues throughout the poem not once

does the poem employ we according to the poem the prophet

is the only mortal to have seen the vision recorded as

section 76

this referential mishap may serve as evidence of

phelpssphelps involvement in the writing of the poem bruce van

orden notes that phelps was so used to representing joseph

142

s

re

versions

siffring

as his clerk that he employed his favorite literary device

poetry to promote the prophets image 90 phelps may be

attempting this by listing the prophet as the sole receiverof the vision and it seems unlikely that the prophet would

think to exclude rigdon who fulfilled the law of witnessesby seeing the vision himself

there are in addition some noteworthy differences in

diction between the two versions generally the poems

changes are clear comedownscome fromdowns the revelation as in the

addition of happify in stanza 62 in a more typicalexample the third stanza of the poem which corresponds to

the fourth verse of the revelation inserts the phrase age

unto age in place of eternity to eternity while themonosyllabic age fits the meter it connotes a limit a

finite period of time whereas the word eternity implies an

inclusiveness of time without beginning or end

often the relative effectiveness of the revelationsdiction vis a vis the poems diction is more subtle in

stanza four of the poetic version the addition of now to

the first eternity places god in a present eternity or

the eternity in which we now exist but eternity then can

refer to either a past eternity or a future eternity or

even both depending on how it is read the scripturalversion from eternity to eternity is more effective in

suggesting one unbroken stretch ranging across all time from

one end of the chronological continuum to the other

143

the poem emphasizes neither jesus christ nor god the

father to the same extent as the revelation nor does itfocus on their relationship as much as the revelation one

of the most endearing moments in the revelation is thedescription of christ in the bosom of the father as

mentioned in verses 13 25 and 39 through these verses

the revelation emphasizes the emotional and spiritualcloseness of the relationship between the father and the son

the son being in the immediate intimate presence of the

father this descriptive image is not included in the poem

in a similar vein verse 53 highlights the fathers rolein sealing blessings via the holy ghost while the poems

corresponding stanza highlights mans involvement in theprocess god is not referred to except as the one who callsa man to perform the ordinance in other words the

revelation is god centered the poem man centered thatemphasis is seen graphically in that references to deity are

more abundant in the revelation than they are in the poem

reference to deity poem revelationgodlordspiritjesuschristsaviourfatherfirstbornFirstson

born

lamb

26111110

994432

281615

812

1

175

104

total 89 116

144

A final distinction the poem repeats less than the

revelation that could make the revelation more redundant

but it might make it more educational important repetitiveforms are missing in the poem for example the phrase

having denied used in an instance of climactic parallelismdescribing the qualifications for becoming a son of perdition

vv 35635 is6 absent in the poem the lords use of

multiple adjectives to describe his punishment vv 44644 are6

likewise omitted as is the phrase after the order of used

in emphasizing the authority of the melchizedek priesthoodvv 57857 if8 one purpose of section 76 is to instruct

through repetition then the revelation serves that end

better than does the poem

conclusion

oh lord the prophet lamented in 1832 deliver us in

due time from the little narrow prison almost as it were

total darkness of paper pen and ink and a crooked

broken scattered and imperfect language 1 299 section76 with its impressive literary credentials may in some

measure represent that delivery from the imperfectness of

language

the purpose of this thesis is to promote recognition of

the doctrine and covenants as profound literature by exposing

its rich literary content it is meant to encourage furtherliterary and religious studies of the doctrine and covenants

14 5

and to foster a greater appreciation for scripture through

literary explication it is hoped that this literaryanalysis of section 76 will result in the examination of

other sections other types of literary analysis could

further add to this formalist approach

with literary studies of the doctrine and covenants the

field is white already to harvest d&c 44 it is the

authors desire that this project will promote the growth of

scholarship in the field of literary scriptural studies a

field that needs only a little attention in order to

flourish

146

dac

19601980

works cited

backman milton V jr and richard 0 cowan joseph smith and

the doctrine and covenants salt lake city deseret book

company 1992

caird G B the lanquagelanguageLanqua and imagery of the bible philadelphia

westminster press 1980

christiansen elray L conference report april 1969 394039

cracroft

40

richard H and neal E lambert A believingBeliebelle peoplevino

literature of the latter day saints salt lake citybookcraft 1979

literary form and historical understanding joseph smithsfirst vision journal of mormon history 7 1980 31

dahl larry E the vision of the glories studies in

scripture vol one the doctrine and covenants eds robertL millet and kent P jackson sandy UT randall book

company 1984 279 308

doctrine and covenants of the church of jesus christ of latter day

saints salt lake city the church of jesus christ of

latter day saints 1990

147

crac roft

his

ge

doxey roy W overview of the doctrine and covenants

encyclopedia of mormonism 5 vols new york macmillan

publishing company 1992

evans john henry joseph smith an american prophet salt lake

city deseret book company 1989

gabel john B and charles B wheeler the bible as literaturean introduction new york oxford university press 1986

holman C hugh and william harmon A handbook to literaturenew york macmillan publishing company 1986

holy bible salt lake city the church of jesus christ of latterday saints 1990

holzapfel richard neitzel eternity sketchdsketchy in a vision thepoetic version of doctrine and covenants 76 the heavens

are open the 1992 sperrasperrv symposium on the doctrine and

covenants and church history salt lake city deseret book

company 1993 141162141

jessee

162

dean C comp and ed the personal writinqswritincrswritings of joseph

smith salt lake city deseret book company 1984

karleen paul S the handbook to bible study new york oxford

university press 1987

148

jos

st

kehl D G ed in the beginning was the word indianapolis

bobbsmerrilbobbs comerril inc 1970

kennedy X J literature an introduction to fiction poetry

and drama london scott foresman and company 1987

lewis C S reflections on the psalms new york harcourt

brace and world 1958

lyon T edgar introduction to the doctrine and covenants and

pearl of great price salt lake city deseret news press

1948

nyman monte S six visions of eternity section 76 hearken 0

ye people the 1984 sperry symposium on the doctrine and

covenants and church history sandy UT randall book

company 1984 105118105

petersen

118

roger K joseph smith prophet poet A literaryanalysis of writings commonly associated with his name

dissertation brigham young university 1981

joseph smith prophet poet A literary analysis of writings

commonly associated with his name DAI 42 1981 4450a

brigham young university

149

sesqfesq icentennialbicentennialjoseph smith prophet poet A sesquicentennial look atchurch history proc of the sidney B sperry symposium 26

jan 1980 provo UT brigham young university 1980

rasmussen ellis T textual parallels to the doctrine and

covenants and book of commandments as found in the bible

thesis brigham young university 1951

richards stephen L conference report april 1955 12

roberts B H ed A comprehensive history of the church of

jesus christ of latter day saints century 1I 6 vols saltlake city deseret news press 1930

ryken leland words of delight A literary introduction to the

bible grand rapids baker book house company 1987

shipp richard C conceptual patterns of repetition in the

doctrine and covenants and their implications thesisbrigham young university 1975

smith hyrum M and janne M sjodahl doctrine and covenants

commentary salt lake city deseret book company 1978

smith joseph history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints ed and comp B H roberts 7 vols saltlake city deseret book company 1983

150

re ort

smutz lois jean textual parallels to the doctrine and

covenants sections 65 to 133 as found in the biblethesis brigham young university 1971

taylor john ancient poetry times and seasons 1 feb 1843

81

van orden bruce A william W phelpss service in nauvoo as

joseph smiths political clerk

encyclopedia of mormonism 5 vols new york macmillan

publishing company 1992

the voice of the prophet

improvement era

april 1926 531

widtsoeWidt johnsoe A the message of the doctrine and covenants ed

G homer durham salt lake city bookcraft 1969

woodford robert J the historical development of the doctrine

and covenants 3 vols dissertation brigham young

university 1974

151

brigham young universityuniversuniverso

studies 32 winter and spring 1991 94

walker steven C doctrine and covenants as literature

brigham younci university

studies 10 autumn 1969 95

whitney orson F oratory poesy and prophecy

zucker louis C joseph smith as a student of hebrew dialogue

3.232 1968 415541 55

152

dialo32

section 76 as literature in the doctrine and covenants

william H brugger

department of english

MA degree december 1993

ABSTRACT

this project attempts to demonstrate the value ofliterary approaches to the doctrine and covenants using apredominantly formalistic approach to establish afoundation the first chapter discusses the rich literarycontent of the doctrine and covenants providing examples ofthe various literary genres represented in it such asnarrative saga parable and poetry the second chapterpresents portions of section 76 that contain featurescharacteristic of hebrew poetry such as figures of speechand parallelism the third chapter analyzes ways in whichsection 76s poetic dimensions are illuminated by thevision a 312 line poem attributed to joseph smith thepoetic version closely parallels the revelation and revealsinsights into the poetic quality of section 76 this studyincludes a line by line comparison of both the scriptural andpoetic versions and notes both textual similarities anddifferences between them

COMMITTEE APPROVALS Cctak&lker committee chair

L E ahlahi comifiittee member

C jay fox9oraduatecoordinator